The following appears in Sunday’s NY Post: The cockroaches in one of Montefiore Medical Center’s cafeterias were definitely not kosher.
But the Bronx hospital denies the charges of a food supervisor who has raised holy hell about the creepy crawlers, plus alleged nonkosher foods and other taboo practices in the kitchen at the Weiler Division.
The hospital fired Robert Frank, a mashgiach, or kosher-food supervisor, this month for badmouthing and “spreading false and/or misleading information” about the cafeteria.
Frank, one of three mashgiachs at the Eastchester Road center, claims he was booted for doing his $18.55-an-hour job.
“Nonkosher food comes in all the time and is prepared by the cooks and served to unsuspecting patients and patrons,” Frank wrote Nov. 29 to Rabbi Yaakov Luban, his liaison at the Orthodox Union — a Jewish group hired by the hospital to certify the kitchen as kosher.
(Source: NY Post)
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15 Responses
eeew. Kol Hakavod Robert Frank.
Huh?
OU mashgiach an employee of the hospital?
RE: OU mashgiach an employee of the hospital?
Welcome to the world of kashrus. This is the way it works all the time. The head mashgiach is not only and employee of the hopital, but is considered a hopital administrator. – conflict of interest anyone? This underling mashgiach who was fired is an erliche yid who was fired for doing the right thing.
Is this a normal occurrence? Or only at hospitals?
3,
Dont hold the NYpost like it is halocha l’moshe m’sinai. I have no doubt there is more to the story than what was reported. Having once been the “story,” I could tell you the writer went with a story but not too many facts.
BS”D
Cockroaches are not kosher? Tell that to the owners of several Brooklyn pizza shops..
Every “he said” has a “she said”. Since the ou is headed by talmidei chachamim, I give them the benefit of the doubt. If you don’t, then shavyeh anafshei chaticha de’isura and you can’t eat anything with an ou on it.
Yes, it is perfectly normal for a mashgiach to be an employee of the business.
I have been involved in hashgacha for many years in many capasities. It is sometimes better for the mashgiach to be paid by the firm, paticularly whenhe (or she) can then get benifits such as overtime, medical, and paid leave, which are generally not provided by the OU. There is only a problem when the mashgiach is not backed up by the OU, and then is mearly a troublesom employee,who can easily be fired.
I would welcome comments by other mashgichim who really know the hashgacha situation from the inside
Usually this is bad situation. Rav Rubin in Eretz Yisreal would not allow his mashgiachs even eat in the restuarants they give hecksher to prevent any conflict of interest.
This one-sided story doesn’t even attempt to quote Rabb Luban or anyone else at the OU. It’s the work of a virulently anti-Orthodox ex-Lubavitch blogger who authored last week’s trashy Post piece. The same piece appeared on his blog a few days ago. I read yeshivaworld to avoid such trash, but I guess his connection to the New York Post now makes his venomous spew hard to ignore.
I agree, this story DOES seem very one-sided. It seems like one person with allegations. And those allegations are presented in the NY Post article as though theyre facts.
“The cockroaches… were definitely not kosher.” Are we sure these cockroaches even exist? There has GOT to be more to this story that isn’t covered here.
What do the two other mashgichim say about this?
BELIEVE it.
The OU does not hire very many people. They are employed by the business owners.
I TOO was fired because I brought the OU down on their heads, a supposedly “glatt” plant…
The OU would be a reliable Hashgacha if they actually employed the shochtim / bodkim and mashgichim…their standards are good, their enforcement is TERRIBLE.
In the USA I can ONLY vouch for Meal Mart because the Satmar ( whom I worked for in MN before the plant was closed) do not take any garbage from the goyim, AND they care about what they eat…the business owners are FRUM.
In another plant ( NOT meal-mart ) I had to fight consistently with the foreman, lables were not locked up, cows were routinely mixed up ( treif with kosher, kosher with treif…at least once a day), Nikur/ triebor was a JOKE ( done 1/2 way)unless I did it personally, the owners were/ are not 100% kosher JEWS. OU is better than ConAGra’s Hebrew national and the little Kombinator Rlabag….because their is a chezqat Kashruth. But that is as far as I can say.
Do not doubt this MALACH / TZADIQ of a yid, he just gave up his job for the Honor of Hashems Torah!!!
R. Yisrael
does anyone know where he is? I saw him collecting sveral years back and would like to help him if he is still in need. rachmanus goes a long way for those badmouthing him….weather it was right or wrong