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NEWS
Candy Importer Fined 200,000 Euro for Kashrus Fraud
by L.S. Wasserman
Under a special settlement agreement, Lehman Schlissel will pay 200,000 euros toward a kashrus inspection fund for products imported to Israel. The settlement follows a class-action suit against the company for kashrus fraud.
In the claim, filed at the Tel Aviv District Court, the plaintiff charged that the candy importer printed on its wrapper — labeled under the Tic Tac brand, which the company marketed from the start of 2006 until the case was filed — that the product is certified kosher by the Rabbinate of Brazil and with the approval of the Rabbinate of Israel. However, the evidence proved that the product's kashrus supervision expired at the end of 2005.
The defendants claimed the product was really kosher and that no harm was done to the plaintiffs, arguing that the claim should not be accepted as a class-action suit. A settlement was subsequently reached between the litigants and the court was asked to approve it.
The essence of the compromise agreement is to set up a foundation that will cover the costs associated with sending rabbonim from Israel to inspect kashrus at sites where products are manufactured for import to Israel with Rabbinate approval. In exchange for paying the 200,000 euros the company will not have to admit to any of the charges filed by the plaintiffs.
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