- This topic has 13 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 9 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
Is it better to buy with Star K, Postiv, or Bodek?
Pos’tiv.
I don’t think any branded vegetables are actually pre-checked. Pos’tiv is usually greenhouse grown with nets etc. (at least those vegetables otherwise prone to infestation) and therefore the best. I think all are sample checked for bugs and “power washed” a few times. Not sure of the exact sequence or number of times washed.
I actually was on a tour of the Postive factory a few years agi with Rabbi Wickler of Kashrus Magazine. We were also treated to classes on bug checking and infestations.
After that, it is a no-brainer. I ONLY use Postiv (or a few other rare Greenhouse products.) I don’t use those other brands at all, based on what I learned.
Without saying any LH about what is wrong with other products, I can tell you that Postive has some major advantages:
– They are grown in a sealed greenhouse completely isolated from the ground soil, so bugs cannot get in. Even in the greenhouse, they spot check the produce while it is still growing.
– They check every batch once it arrives at the factory BEFORE washing it
– They wash it in a process that is VASTLY superior to most other companies for certain reasons that they might not want divulged
– They check EVERY SINGLE ounce of product before bagging it. Yes, that is correct – they don’t just spot check! They have a method wherby they check everything.
There are some bugs (mites) that are so small that once they infest lettuce, they are difficult to spot even using a lightbox. Non-greenhouse lettuce just cannot be guaranteed clean, even with all of the ‘washing’ and spot checks that other companies do.
“There are some bugs (mites) that are so small that once they infest lettuce, they are difficult to spot even using a lightbox.”
If the bugs are that small, do we really have to worry about them?
Asking seriously here, I have always understood the situation to be that were only worried about bugs that are visible to the human eye(i.e. Don’t require a microscope to find them etc). If that’s the case, aren’t an enormous amount of the bug worries unfounded?
I have always understood the situation to be that were only worried about bugs that are visible to the human eye
He said difficult to see, not impossible.
My rav, who is a bedikas tolaim expert, recommends only Postiv, Kosher Gardens, Bgan, and Eden. With regards to Bodek, the rav hamachshir there is of the opinion that anything less than 1.6 mm is not nirah leayin, which is huge, Rav Vaye says .35 mm is nirah leayin, Rav Shachter says .5, most poskim hold around .5 mm.
I always wash and inspect my own lettuce. I don’t trust anyone else. There is not one company that is going to do it as well as you can. And while eggs can hatch in bagged “checked” lettuce, it’d not going to happen when you wash and inspect close to meal time. I have found insects with the best hashgachos including postiv.
No, if done properly.
1) Mites can be seen without magnification and are therefore nirah leayin, Anyone who knows how to identify a mite will tell you that it is visible without magnification.
2) Dov, your process will not remove leaf miners (found in almost all types of leafy vegetables). In certain vegetables insects that would normally come off with soap and water after soaking and brushing can hide in cracks such as in broccoli florets, or thrips hiding behind strawberry seeds. If you are trained to identify the insects that are commonly found in vegetables (i.e thrips, aphids, mites, leaf miners) and how each one can be removed, then you can check your produce yourself and clean accordingly, but for those inexperienced in identifying bugs I would suggest using a cleaning method that has been tested and is recommended by an expert. Rav Vaya’s “Bedikas Hamazon” sefer, and Rav Revachs “Tolaat Shani” sefer are excellent seforim with clear instructions and pictures on how to clean different types of veggies.
I never found thrips hiding behind or under strawberry seeds after washing very fresh strawberries. Whole Foods carries super fresh produce.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.