Q. Why must cheese be certified kosher for Passover?
A. Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 442:5) writes that cheese that was made with wheat vinegar must be destroyed before Pesach. Mishnah Berurah explains that this is true, even if the vinegar is less than one part in sixty and does not give any taste to the cheese. Since the vinegar helps form the cheese (maamid), the regular halachos of bitul (nullification) do not apply. The same holds true for the bacterial cultures that are used to form the cheese. If the cultures were grown on glucose derived from chametz, the cheese may not be eaten on Pesach. Kosher l’Pesach cheese is made from kosher l’Pesach cultures.
OU Kosher Halacha Yomis will continue BS'D after Pesach on Monday, May 2nd. We wish all HY subscribers and all of Klal Yisroel a Chag Kosher V’samayach.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Halacha Yomis - Kosher L'Pesach Cheese OU Kosher Halacha Yomis This column is dedicated in memory of: Rav Chaim Yisroel ben Reb Dov HaLevi Belsky, zt'l Senior OU Kosher Halachic Consultant from 1987-2016
Q. Why must cheese be certified kosher for Passover?
A. Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 442:5) writes that cheese that was made with wheat vinegar must be destroyed before Pesach. Mishnah Berurah explains that this is true, even if the vinegar is less than one part in sixty and does not give any taste to the cheese. Since the vinegar helps form the cheese (maamid), the regular halachos of bitul (nullification) do not apply. The same holds true for the bacterial cultures that are used to form the cheese. If the cultures were grown on glucose derived from chametz, the cheese may not be eaten on Pesach. Kosher l’Pesach cheese is made from kosher l’Pesach cultures.
OU Kosher Halacha Yomis will continue BS'D after Pesach on Monday, May 2nd. We wish all HY subscribers and all of Klal Yisroel a Chag Kosher V’samayach.
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