Osem Ketchup giving up mehadrin hechsher

who knew that ketchup would be the big victim of the Russia Ukraine War and of Shmitta?

According to Israel Hayom, Osem produces it ketchup from tomato concentrate mostly produced int he Ukraine. With the war ongoing, Ukraine has been unable to supply the product, making it difficult for Osem to produce their ketchup.

The alternative they found was to produce the tomato concentrate here in Israel. They then discovered that this might be ok for the general market as they can use tomatoes and tomato concentrates from hetter mechira produce, but the Haredi market would ot accept that at all. 

According to the report, Osem has enough stock left to last a couple of months but new production is all going to be using hetter mechira produce for the foreseeable future and their ketchup will not bear a mehadrin kashrut certification. They are looking for alternatives.

So pay attention to the ketchup you buy, if that matters to you. Make sure it has a hechsher you rely on.

I am not sure why Israel and Ukraine are the only two choices. If they could buy from the Ukraine, there must be somewhere else they can buy from now to avoid the hetter mechira issue.

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