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I know all flavors are cerified kosher but does this mean I can go to get from any location? is it a problem if the container they are scooping from is open?
Not all flavors are kosher , Rocky Road and one or 2 others arent kosher
Its cold and they wash the scouper , so it isnt a problem
RedQuest: Prob best to ask your LOR. Sorry to ruin the ice cream party by suggesting caution.
At least, I would ask my LOR just in case the non-kosher scoopers are washed with the kosher scoopers in a dishwasher, etc.
They might switch the scooper between the kosher and non-kosher flavors, even during the same day before it’s washed.
Who says Starbucks is different?
RedQuest: Are you saying there is a BR site under the hashgachoh of the OU? I am wondering since BR Ice Cream is certified by the Star-D?
Unless you keep Chalov Yisroel, BR is perfectly fine
People who eat non-CY also eat the non-kosher BR flavors (or kosher flavors scooped with the same scooper used with the non-kosher BR flavors), ZD?
I am not an expert in kashruth, but it has something to do with the ice cream being cold as opposed to being hot. Since its cold you can rely on the scouper being washing (Or something like that) If the Ice cream was hot, The Taam somehow gets into the Metal which it does not when its cold
Every single BR store, when two flavors run out mid-day (one non-kosher flavor and one kosher flavor at the same time) when taking out the used containers will make absolutely certain every single time to put the scooper from the finished non-kosher flavor into the replacement non-kosher flavor rather than the replacement kosher flavor?
Even the BR stores in Reston, Virginia?
The BR store near me does not leave their scoopers in the ice cream container. they are left in water near the ice cream.
So they use the same scoopers for the non-kosher and kosher flavors. When you get your “kosher” BR ice cream, your also eating some residue non-kosher food.
Joseph: since the store is under hashgachoh they may not serve the non-kosher flavors of ice cream.
iacisrmma: But most BR stores are not under hashgacha. The OP asked about “any location.” Obviously if the store is under a hashgacha you trust (and you use chalav stam), you can eat the ice cream there.
RedQuest, I believe there is a topic here on Starbucks. You can also check the Star-K website, which has a handy chart on their recommendations for Starbucks (click on lists and resources, the look at kosher lists).
If you’re referring to Rabbi Mehlman’s certification of Dunkin Donuts stores, he told me that he only certifies the DD part of the store and NOT the Baskin Robbins, which he said he does not vouch for its kashrus status. (The kosher signs on the DD/BR are confusing in that.)
Yehudayona: “Hamon Am” who eat chalov stam go to any BR store and partake of the ice cream. I do not know about HD stores, If the OP wants guidance on the issue he/she should contact the Star-K directly about the BR stores and the OU for the HD stores.
As for Starbucks, the list is put together by the CRC.
What right do some members of the “hamon am” have to eat in an uncertified BR, iacisrmma? As mentioned, in NYC Rabbi Mehlman ONLY certifies the DD part of the store and NOT BR.
There is a kosher BR in LA, certified by the RCC. That store must not sell any of the non-kosher products. If a person wants to go to a regular BR and buy certified kosher (by Star-D) ice cream, he can do that, knowing that there are non-kosher products touching his ice cream. I am assuming that the cones are kosher, but what about things like fudge sauce or whipped cream? In a store like the one in LA, that would be okay, because the store is certified. If the store you go to is not certified (not the ice cream certified but the store itself), then there are not kosher products over there that you cannot buy. Just like in Starbucks, you cannot buy everything.
Nechomah, have you read the above discussion? The uncertified BRs use the same utensils to scoop up the non-kosher ice cream as they use to serve you the “kosher” ice cream. You will have residue non-kosher food in your cone or cup.
And you know this to be a fact because…..?
“And you know this to be a fact because…..?”
Disclaimer: I know nothing whatsoever about this topic. But, if it’s not certified, what would be the basis for assuming that they wouldn’t use the same utensils for Kosher and non-Kosher ice cream?
Lets see, cold is not “bolayah” so at most there is a safeik and possibly a sefek sfeika about the scooper. Was the scooper used for the non-kosher flavors and even if yes, was it washed off between scoops? Probably a shailoh for a Rov and not the “yentas” on this forum!
From the Star-K website:
Baskin Robbins Product Update:
certification. Consumers should check original packaging for kosher symbol.
items from these categories when bearing the STAR-D symbol.
You saw the shared scooper being placed in a water basket between uses. It isn’t washed off. So residue ice cream from the non-kosher can remain on the scooper itself as well as there be non-kosher ice cream in the water basket the scooper is left in between uses.
These aren’t safeiks in the halachic kashrus sense. And you can’t trust the non-Jewish employees on kashrus matters in an uncertified food eatery that sells treif food. You’re simply eating non-kosher.
Joseph, did you see where I said that he can buy kosher (Star-D certified) ice cream but that it will have been (in all likelihood) touched by the nonkosher products (from the scooper that is used for kosher and nonkosher products). Perhaps my comment was in the middle and hidden, but you don’t have to attack without a valid reason. I was making the point, however, that there is such a thing as a certified BR store, which I did not see reliably mentioned in any of the above posts, but I did find this in my search about BR.
Nechomah, your first comment could be read to imply that some people hold its okay to eat kosher ice cream mixed with non-kosher ice cream (from the scooper.)
Since the OP poses his/her question in the way that “everybody does it”, then this is the reality that must be accepted if one is going to do what everybody is doing. Maybe the assumption is that it is butul b’shishim? I really can’t say what the heter is, or if there even is one, as I am not an expert in these halachos. I also would stay away from the place. Also, we are all assuming that one goes there only to buy a cone. Is there a way to buy soft serve ice cream from a machine or prepared packages of ice cream? It has been years since I even saw a BR store. Both of these purchases may be permissible le’chatchila I believe.
As mentioned, in NYC Rabbi Mehlman ONLY certifies the DD part of the store and NOT BR.
How does that work with the BR utensils? A KOA certified DD location I know of does not sell any of the non-certified BR flavors.
A kashrus administrator for the OK states in his Sefer that if the the scooper is washed well one can eat from that location. He also states that one should ask the shailoh to his/her Rav.
While “Joseph” doesn’t believe it is a safeik, I would wonder if the Halacha is the same as with cut lemons that after a number of scoops there is no tarfus left on the scoop?
Washed well? It isn’t washed at all between customers (other than to leave it in the same basket of water that still has the treif flavors washed into it from earlier customer’s scoops.)
“You’re simply eating non-kosher.”
Lol sometimes its easy to live life with things simple. and yu certainly avoid shailos that way. However reality is not simple.
Rocky Road ICe cream is probably not “simply non-kosher” of course the marshmallows are. The reality is that some the scoops are rinsed beween flavors. The concern that it wasnt rinsed well enough and a marshmallow got stuck in the vanilla ice cream and then isnt noticed is quite a stetch. That isnt to say that it isnt better to be machmir and avoid this whole issue in the first place. But lets stick to facts. and to say that eating Vanilla Baskin and Robbins is “simply eating non-kosher” is simply incorrect and frankly involves some stretching (though it can still occur and I would avoid it)
Question please: Do the ice cream scoopers not need to be immersed in a mikvah with a bracha before use?
~Assuming that they are metal
No, they don’t, and even if they did, that wouldn’t make the ice cream assur.
The biggest issue is possible mixing of non-kosher ice cream into kosher ice cream.
Since someone mentioned the DD’s under Rabbi Mehlman, I’ll add some other data points. There’s a kosher DD/BR in Oak Park, MI. The whole store is under the hashgacha of the Vaad Harabonim of Detroit. The DD’s under the Vaad of the 5 Towns do not include BR.
Question please: Do the ice cream scoopers not need to be immersed in a mikvah with a bracha before use?
Immersion is only needed if they are owned by a Jew. Utensils that require immersion but haven’t been, cannot be eaten from directly but don’t make the food unkosher.
-: “Immersion is only needed if they are owned by a Jew. Utensils that require immersion but haven’t been, cannot be eaten from directly but don’t make the food unkosher.”
News to me! I thought every kli had to be immersed. Thank you.
With this thread, the pareve thread, and the ice cream sandwich cookie thread… am I the only one who has been craving ice cream for days now?
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