Israel is the sixth largest citrus producer in the world. We
enjoy oranges and tangerines, pomelas and grapefruit in our
daily winter diet. It is important to know how to enjoy them
without being susceptible to the various insect infestations
that they bear.
On the market is an excellent guide by Rabbi Moshe Vaye (in
Hebrew), "Bedikas Hamozone Cehalacha." The newly
released volume 2 has a section on fruit.
Sitting at a table with R' Moshe Vaye with a bowl of fruit
between you is an amazing experience. You see before you a
tangerine, pomela and orange, whereas he sees a whole
miniature zoo. Fruit lice in a variety of colors: reddish
brown, black, grey, the dark brown comma-shaped fruit fleas.
To the untrained eye, these look like specks of dirt clinging
to the fruit, but they just so happen to be alive.
How can we distinguish between fruit flies and dirt, if
they are so minuscule?
Fruit flies can be easily removed, wholly intact, with a
fingernail or a knife, whereas dirt clings to the fruit.
These flies, fleas or aphids, have a definitely round or
comma-like shape, whereas dirt spots have no distinct
shape.
Then there is the "flour aphid," a small, elliptical flea,
and lastly, the rust mite.
Rabbi Vaye, the list is very depressing.
Most fruit that is marketed in the shops undergoes a cleaning
process in the packaging plants. Most mites are removed by
this cleansing, besides which the aforementioned flour aphid
is relatively rare in marketed fruit. Similarly, the rust
mite is also not usually found by the time the fruit reaches
the greengrocer.
Nevertheless, most fruits are infested on the surface and
must be inspected before eating. Even if a superficial glance
shows the fruit to be clean, it should be checked for
isolated mites, especially near the stem. Fruits that did not
undergo any cleansing process are liable to be covered with
many insects.
In the light of Rabbi Vaye's extensive research, we cannot
help wondering if previous generations were aware of what we
know today.
Did they, inadvertently, 'stumble' and sin in this
important area, out of ignorance? And if not, why must we be
more cautious and stringent than they?
Rabbi Vaye: We certainly cannot say that previous generations
were unaware of the stumbling blocks. I have researched a
list of citations in the sources of scholarly works on the
subject of insect infestation regarding all known fruit,
beginning with the Mishna and through to the works of
the Acharonim. One of these latter sages even mentions
a certain Jewish community that failed to produce any Torah
scholars, precisely because they defiled themselves by the
eating of insects.
Throughout all the generations, our rabbis warned about this
subject, so we cannot say that it is a matter of new
stringencies or chumros. It is important to note that
all the rulings which I state in my works in the names of
contemporary rabbonim were presented to them for their
approval after they were written down, word for word.
One of the first lectures which I gave on the subject was
attended by the daughter of R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
ztvk'l. Afterwards, she went home and told her father
about this "new speaker who devotes himself to the subject of
insect infestation." She wanted to know what he thought about
the matter. He said that it was important to see if he
forbade the eating of fruit or sought solutions to the
problems involved. And that is truly our purpose -- to find
the correct and permissible way of partaking of fruit.
In the past, for example, people were not accustomed to
washing and scrubbing fruit with detergent.
Jewish communities lived for centuries in the same countries,
and in each village and district the local inhabitants were
familiar with the various types of prevalent infestations and
pitfalls and how to avoid them. As the Pri Chodosh
puts it, "Everything varies according to time and place."
With the changes of the modernized world, Jews relocated to
different places and people found themselves faced with new
problems whose solutions were unknown to them.
There is another decisive factor that differentiates these
times from the past, but first allow me to clarify why in
Jerusalemite Yiddish, an orange is called 'portugal.' The
source of this name lies in the fact that in the past, this
fruit first came to this country via Portuguese merchants.
Add to this the anomaly of a fruit called Washington coming
from Brazil and the Valencia species brought from California
and others. These facts lead us to a cornerstone in our
attitude towards the subject of worms: every country suffers
from its own agricultural infestation.
The orange, for example, which emigrated from country to
country, took along the pests of each place, so that where a
fruit might suffer from just one or two kinds in its home
habitat, in the course of its travels many other pests
latched on for the ride.
In addition, the export of fruit from country to country
disturbs the ecological balance, since it comes with a new
species of pest, but not with its natural enemy which was to
be found only in that country of origin.
How can we avoid eating these insects?
1. Peeling. Study the peel. If the fruit appears completely
clean, there is no reason to examine it further. If the peel
looks infested, one must peel it off and also study the
peeled fruit, one's hands and the knife to see if anything
remained behind after the peel is removed. If you see
anything suspicious, you must rinse it off well or remove it
with the tip of the knife.
In order to avoid the transfer of any insects, it is
advisable to scour the peel with a metallic scouring pad or
with a firm bristle brush and a bit of detergent. Then rinse
well. This is advisable for whole citrus fruit which children
take along to school.
2. Cut the fruit. If you wish to cut up the fruit with the
same knife, you peeled it, you must first examine both sides
of the blade to see if anything adhered to it. If the knife
was not examined, or the fruit was cut with its peel, one
must study the area of the cut to see if anything transferred
to it.
3. Squeezing. Before one squeezes fruit for its juice, one
must examine it externally. If it seems to be infested, one
must be careful that no insects get into the juicer or the
juice. You can strain it with a fine mesh strainer.
Citrus fruit prepared industrially in a plant undergoes
various preparation processes that allow us to assume that no
insects fell in (partial insects are considered bottel
in the mixture). Natural juice that was prepared in a small
establishment, at home or in a kiosk should be strained with
a fine mesh strainer.
4. Use of the peel. We will omit dealing with instructions of
use of the peel since the shellac used on the fruit raises
other questions of kashrus, especially regarding citrus
fruit. As of this year, a kosher waxy application is being
used to shine apples.
Rabbi Vaye -- are the black spots really worms? Creatures
without head or feet? (Refers to scales on citrus
fruit.)
What we see on the peels of citrus is the dark protective
covering which the insect has and which is also considered
halachically inedible, being termed "what is derived from
something impure." This particular insect undergoes several
stages of development, in one of which the legs of the female
atrophy and drop off. At this point, it really is round. In
order to actually view the pest, one must turn it over very
gently and study it with a high-quality magnifying glass.
Very often, people are surprised to discover that the 'black
spots' are actually living creatures! When the doctor of R'
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ztvk'l prescribed figs for his
diet, the Rov sent a bag of figs to me for inspection via two
Torah scholars. We opened up the figs and discovered a broad
array of insects, including mites that resemble small dots.
They were amazed to discover that what appeared to be tiny
dots were actually walking creatures.
They returned with their findings and this product was
forthwith removed from his diet. Just at that time, a G-d-
fearing talmid chochom entered and they briefed him on
what they had just learned. They gave him a fig, which he
took outside to examine in the sunlight. He immediately
returned, repeating in amazement, "Es geit, es geit
(It walks)!"
*
Eight years ago, Rabbi Vaye was invited to a series of
lectures in the U.S. In the course of his visit, he gave a
talk to the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (the O-U).
Members of his audience were skeptical as to the relevancy of
his points in the U.S. They felt his words only applied in
Israel and argued it back and forth.
One enterprising person went out to the nearest greengrocer
and bought fifty dollars worth of common fruits and
vegetables to put an end to this theoretical argument. All
the species were found to be infested to some degree. And
when Rabbi Vaye opened up a package of California dates,
which are considered to be of superior quality, a worm crept
out of the very first one!
Is it always like that?
Rabbi Vaye: Certainly not.
I considered it especial siyata deShmaya to help
illustrate the severity of the subject. Towards the end of
the day, I was very tired and hungry. I took the bag of dates
on the table and began examining them, one by one. Only the
very first one was infested; the others were clean and I was
able to eat my fill.
Internal Infestation
We have dealt with exterior infestation and now go on to the
inner visitation of insects in citrus fruit.
This infestation comes from fruit flies which penetrate the
skin and lay their eggs inside. In general, the site of the
penetration is not visible from the outside. The worms which
hatch from the eggs are very tiny and slowly penetrate deeper
into the fruit, growing to a size of nine millimeters.
Fruit from an orchard, that is treated correctly, is
generally clean and it is unnecessary to examine it since
today, this subject is under national surveillance. In a year
of scant rainfall and towards the end of the citrus season
(in summer), the fruit is sometimes infested and one should
examine it. On the other hand, fruit grown in private gardens
or not properly treated and fumigated may very well be
infested.
Last year, one of the experts called up Rabbi Vaye to say
that there was a higher incidence of fruit flies because the
summer heat ran well into the winter.
A description of internal infestation: an area that
seems softer, or that is darker inside. One can sometimes
discern a hole that penetrates to the interior, or a dark
spot on the inner white peel. One should peel the fruit and
study the white peel for any discoloration.
In the event of discoloration, one should cut open the
segments and examine them for worms, which are a cream-white
with a black spot on the head. Dead worms become darker,
almost brownish. They may be difficult to spot when they are
small and in grapefruit, they resemble the fruit itself. As
they develop, the area of infestation becomes softer and
turns a darkish hue.
If one squeezes juice from such a fruit, one must study the
liquid carefully to see if anything is floating, but it is
advisable to strain it well.
Are dark spots on a lemon problematic?
When a lemon turns old, it develops brown spots, which are
not a sign of infestation. Lemons and esrogim which
are marketed commercially are generally clean from inside
infestation.
Sample Testing
If you suspect internal infestation, you should squeeze the
juice from 2-3 fruits and study if worms float to the
surface. If you do find worms, you should not eat the fruit
of that purchase, though you may drink the juice after it is
well strained.
Complain!
It is important to know that the greater the awareness, the
quicker the problem is addressed. For example, about 15 years
ago, one could hardly find a package of rice or dried beans
that was not somewhat infested.
When the Tamir hotel was first opened, a certain Admor was
scheduled to stay for Shabbos with his entourage. On Friday
morning, the kashrus inspectors checked a sample of beans and
found it to be infested. The second batch was also infested,
as was the third.
That Shabbos, the Admor and his followers ate cholent
without bebblach. Surely, his neshomoh yeseiroh
enjoyed the fact. Today, however, the situation is greatly
improved, which is why it is so important to register
complaints when one does find infestation. This puts
companies on the alert and causes them to improve the
product.
Summary of citrus checking:
1. Peeling. After peeling, study the knife and the fruit for
bugs. Remove.
2. Internal examination. If the fruit is soft and looks
strange, and has brown spots or holes on the white inner
peel, one must examine the fruit for white worms.
3. Squeezing. One must be careful not to squeeze insects into
the juice. Examine the juice for floating white bugs. Juice
that is strained with a fine mesh strainer can be drunk.
