Kashrut in Israel can sometimes be complicated, especially if you only rely on mehadrin hechshers, and the more restrictive you get limiting your reliable kashrut list to fewer and fewer kashrut agencies the more complicated it can become (objectively speaking - determining which agencies to accept and which not to accept).

Why is it so complicated? In my opinion what makes it complicated is that standards are generally not published, and rumors abound. People talk about this or that hechsher being not reliable, and few people actually have a reason for saying that other than that being what they were told. They often don't know what policy is held by that organization that makes someone consider it not reliable or not preferable, while some people might be perfectly fine with that policy.

One of the hechshers that fall in the above category has been Rav Auerbach's hechsher on Oaf Tov chickens. Many people who eat mehadrin would say that this brand of chickens is not reliable. Rarely would I get an explanation as to why, though I have heard one or two theories over the years as to why it is not "really" mehadrin and not acceptable.

Anyways, be that as it may, Kosharot, the kashrut agency that does not supervise products or companies but raises awareness of kashrut issues and seeks to educate the public about standards of different organizations, policies and issues, has announced today that Rav Auerbach's kashrut certification on chickens has now been moved and added to the recommended list. Below is the letter published by Kosharot.

The letter states that the hechsher of Rav Auerbach on of Tov is now recommended, and the details are:

1. We have been in touch with the staff of the Of Tov slaughterhouse for several years already and have been tracking the level of kashrut, In the visits and meetings, it has become clear that welcome  changes have been implemented int he slaughterhouse to improve the kashrut level.
2. We have been deeply impressed by the positive and serious changes implemented in issues that have been submitted over the past few years
3.  It is important to note that giving complete freedom of action to the rabbonim of the slaughterhouse regarding all kashrut issues is the basis, from our perspective, for recommending this product as kashrut mehadrin.
4. Ergo, we have decided at this point to add the product of this slaughterhouse, unprocessed chicken and turkey products, to the Kosharot recommended list.
5.  If there will be negative changes in the standing and process of the slaughterhouse, or the freedom of action for the slaughterhouse rabbis will be curtailed, or if our continued entry will be limited, we will remove the slaughterhouse from the recommended list without warning.

They don't really say what changed, besides for freedom of action for the slaughterhouse rabbis, whatever that means, so we don't know what was done before that was unacceptable to Kosharot and what is being done now that Kosharot approves of. Either way, if you accept Kosharot as a source in kashrut you can now consider Rav Auerbach's hechsher on unprocessed chicken and turkey products as mehadrin.