lettuce

Asked by Steve Kohn · July 17, 2003 · Kashrut

Question

We live out of town where Bodek Vegetables are not available. When we called the plant, we were told that Bodek, Dole, Earthbound and Garden Fresh are processed in the same manner and often in the same plant. They are triple washed and then rinsed with a solution (I think it is a sulfate-salt solution but I am not sure) to both keep them fresh and "remove any bugs". If this is true then is it possible that the Bodek lettuce is not actually ever checked by a mashgiah. Does this mean that the consumer would still need to check at least 3 leaves for bugs before using it? And is it possible to find out if there is any difference in the processing between the different brands or are they really all the same. Thank you again for everything you do!!! You are returning sanity to Jewish life.

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

My understanding is that there is a difference. If someone can prove that there is not, I would love to hear from them. I did notice clumps in the Dole Brand that could not have possibly cleaned inside. You do not need to recheck Bodek Brand and Gush Katif Brand. These are bug free, meaning that bugs are not Matzui (commonly found). Or just buy regular lettuce and clean the leaves yourself. Make believe every inch is full of bugs and just run your fingers all over the leaf removing bugs under the running water. After a few times, it goes pretty quick. AA