At a special meeting convened during Chol Hamoed Pesach,
members of the Shearis Yisroel Beis Din decided to rescind
its kashrus supervision over the R.S. Bashkevitz company
immediately, following an incident of fraud involving
mayonnaise marketed for Pesach use. Shearis Yisroel is now
assessing legal measures against the company in response to
the deceit.
On Adar 26-28 the company manufactured a special line of
kitniyos-free, palm oil mayonnaise in the Bashkevitz
plant, closely supervised by Shearis Yisroel.
Two days before Pesach, slight concerns arose that mayonnaise
produced at that plant on other days also carried the Shearis
Yisroel stamp with the words, "Lelo chashash
kitniyos."
Shearis Yisroel quickly sent samples of the jars in question
for lab testing, making special efforts to obtain immediate
results. The results, which arrived on the morning of Erev
Pesach, showed the presence of soybean oil, which is
considered kitniyos.
Within hours Shearis Yisroel made announcements in chareidi
neighborhoods notifying the public not to use the mayonnaise
unless it had been already been mixed in with the food and
the taste was undetectable.
At a meeting convened during Chol Hamoed the Beis Din decided
to remove its supervision from all Bashkevitz products and
discussed measures to prevent similar incidents from
recurring.
