In a shock move on Erev Purim, the Beth Din of Johannesburg revoked the Kosher certification of Stan & Pete Caterers’ with immediate effect, after a routine inspection on Wednesday morning discovered more than 20 Treif chickens were in the kitchen and being prepared for use.
Stan & Pete is both the largest and oldest caterer in South Africa, operating for close to 40 years. A community member posted on Facebook that “it is unlikely that any Jew in Johannesburg has not eaten its food.”
A statement from the Kashrus agency on Friday, March 2nd explained that the discovery was made by “one of the Beth Din’s senior inspectors,” and was made during “a multi-layered, rigorous system of weekly random spot inspections by expert Beth Din inspectors who oversee and double-check the daily checks performed by the onsite mashgiach.”
The statement (ATTACHED BELOW) noted that the batch of more than 20 Treif chickens “were being defrosted in preparation for use, and constituted the entire batch of chickens in the working area of the kitchen at the time. The chickens were not in their original packaging but the highly trained eye of the Beth Din inspector noticed a number of clear signs that the chickens were very different from the Kosher slaughtered and prepared chickens produced by Tenderchick, the only certified producer of Kosher chickens. The inspector immediately called the Dayanim of the Beth Din to come and inspect. They arrived immediately and also called in another expert witness, who verified that the chickens were undeniably Treif.”
After the managing owner of Stan & Pete was summoned to explain the fact that he had in his kitchen such a large batch of Treif chickens and could provide no explanation for the presence of the Treif chickens, the Beth Din withdrew its certification and notified the public immediately of the decision.
Shocked members of the community immediately suspected, given the timing, that the alert was a Purim spiel. The Hashgacha quickly reiterated that the announcement was serious, and that any Stan & Pete product may not be eaten, even from a while back.
The initial statement from the Hashgacha stated “crockery and food utensils need not be kashered.” Friday’s announcement made no mention of kashering utensils.
In a message to friends that was shared on Facebook, Jeff Shull of Stan & Pete confirmed that the ruling was not a joke: “Yes, it’s true… on a routine inspection earlier today some irregularities were found in our main kitchen. The Beth Din has taken precautionary measures to stop us trading with immediate effect. I am working closely with the Beth Din to see if we can resolve this issue. I thank you all for the many years of wonderful simchas and memorable moments. I will keep you all updated as soon as I know.”
Stan & Pete was booked to cater for Chabad’s Miracle Drive on Tuesday, which they have done for the past 28 years. “We have now made alternative plans,” says Rabbi David Masinter, the founder of this lavish annual event. “It will still be an outstanding dinner.”
As the restaurant or Hashgacha has offered no explanation to date, members of the community have been left stunned, wondering if perhaps they have been eating Treif at the trusted establishment for years. Others are questioning how the highly-regarded Kashrus organization could have overlooked such a glaring issue. Several shared their thoughts on social media:
Oy Vey. A calamity worse than Steinhoff. Just received notice that the Beth Din have withdrawn caterer Stan & Pete’s certification with immediate effect. And just before Purim.
— David Shapiro (@davidshapiro61) February 28, 2018
YWN will provide any updates to this story as soon as they become available.
(Nat Golden – YWN)
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11 Responses
what else is new, its a shocker that hasgachos are not reliable and that it is dangerous to eat at “kosher” restaurants?
It isn’t the first & it won’t be the last. It’s unclear… the report indicates there was a mashgiach temidi. If so, was he shluffing on the job? I hope he was fired, this catastrophe is his responsibility, and was only discovered when the roving inspector dropped in. I feel sorry for Baalei simcha who have weddings & Bar Mitzvot booked, as well as for those who used them recently.
Just like the Chinese restaurant in Passaic.
The South Africa Bais Din had experts that were able to identify treif poultry.
Passaic kosher certifiers sadly did not have anyone that can spot treif chickens.
KCL & Numerous other kosher certifiers do not have qualified individuals that can spot treif poultry.
Its very shocking to hear how erliche yidden were nebech nichshel in machules asiris.
The bottom line is that i was in Florida a few weeks ago and i was sitting with many chasidishe yingeleit with wollene talis kuten and their wives badekte sheitlech in a restauraunt which has a Kosher Miami certification and they were eating 32 oz steaks. I am NOT chas veshulem bashing the hechsher or the integrity of the hechsher but a Satmere yingerman who dosent eat 82 chicken or eats only meenaches meat does not belong in a restaurant .
Same goes all summer where i see yingeleit eating at Lamarase or other steak houses with OU hashguche.
Again nothing wrong with OU but for a satmere yid its wrong …..
The shock here is that it is the biggest caterer in town, under the ‘main’ (and only) hashgocha, who ‘everybody’ used. It’s not like other previous kashrus scandals in the world, that may have been, a not-so-reliable person, under a private hechsher etc.
Are the owners observant Jews? (Not that an ok observant Jew is not capable)
Again another unfortunate story with the horrible fraud of deceiving and machshol Jews of eating נבילות. If the ownership is not observant you better make sure the Hechsher is 200% top-notch, otherwise you have no heter and you are guilty, there is no concept of עד אחד נאמן באיסורין or any חזקת כשרות
What is the basis for determining that notwithstanding the “smoking gun” evidence of treife chickens, those who might have previously purchased take out food or had the restaurant cater their simchas do not have to kasher their kitchens, dishes and utensils. Were these hindl only partially treif, did they have a plumba that said “not for mehadrim but ok for everyone else”?….I don’t get it.
Gadol hador: please explain the meaning of “partially traif “?
Go do,
The basis is very simple: until the treife chickens were discovered there was a chazakah that everything from that caterer was kosher. There is no evidence that there was ever any treif there before the batch that was discovered. It’s entirely possible that this was the first time anything went wrong and it was caught immediately. So for the keilim, which in any event are not benei yoman, we can rely on this and not kasher them.
TTTango….obviously sarcasm….I was asking what could possibly be the reason for not requiring kashering of home items and used the term “partially treif” as a rhetorical question. Milhoiuse provides a very clear an logial explaination which was not obvious to me but I no understand.