# My local supermarket was ready for Passover!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 8, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160 "2012-04-08T06:53:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/1 "2012-04-08T06:53:59Z")
My local supermarket (Kroger) decided to sell something for Passover that normally they don’t have.
So they put out [challah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah) for the holiday.
:smack:
This is the same Kroger that put an advertising placard up for Hebrew National hot dogs right in front of the ham section. It’s not too far from the Target that put their Chanukah stuff on clearance on December 26th - the year that Chanukah was later than that.
😃
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### Author:  [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/2 "2012-04-08T07:33:02Z")
Sorry, I don’t get it. Your link says the bread is used on the Sabbath and holidays, it didn’t say it wasn’t used for Passover. What am I missing?
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### Author:  [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/3 "2012-04-08T10:45:55Z")
> [@Foggy](#):
>
> Sorry, I don’t get it. Your link says the bread is used on the Sabbath and holidays, it didn’t say it wasn’t used for Passover. What am I missing?
IANJewish, but I believe all breadstuffs eaten at Passover must be unleavened (commemorating the fact that the Children of Israel left so quickly that they didn’t have time to let the bread rise).
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/4 "2012-04-08T11:50:19Z")
Correct. Challah is a leavened bread and thus, even if kosher the rest of the year, would not be kosher-for-passover which is a slightly different set of rules that includes “no leavened bread products whatsoever”
In fact, Jews aren’t even supposed to have leavened stuff _in the house_ period during Passover, it all has to go out.
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### Author:  [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/5 "2012-04-08T13:07:24Z")
OK, Thanks.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/6 "2012-04-08T13:16:40Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#):
>
> My local supermarket (Kroger) decided to sell something for Passover that normally they don’t have.
>
> So they put out [challah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah) for the holiday.
>
> :smack:
>
> This is the same Kroger that put an advertising placard up for Hebrew National hot dogs right in front of the ham section. It’s not too far from the Target that put their Chanukah stuff on clearance on December 26th - the year that Chanukah was later than that.
>
> 😃
My supermarket put out… Hamantaschen! Yeah, ready for Passover!
(off to make matza brei).
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/7 "2012-04-08T16:05:35Z")
My supermarket had a lavish display of Passover goodies laid out. Sadly, when I went for a box of brownie mix to demonstrate the Dessert of Affliction, their larder was bare. ☹
This morning’s sumptuous feast: Egg beaters, matzo with peanut butter, a banana, and a piece of leftover kugel. OM NOM NOM! 😃
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/8 "2012-04-08T17:06:05Z")
My BF of the time and I complained at the pork flavoring essence in the kosher section and baffled the grocery manager who didn’t seem to understand why a person keeping kosher would complain :smack:
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### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/9 "2012-04-08T17:09:38Z")
The one that stumped me was the kosher orange juice. Which was, of course, more expensive than the non-kosher orange juice.
I’m still not sure what the deal is. They both have identical sets of ingredients (oranges), and I don’t think the non-kosher orange juice ferments, otherwise my breakfasts would be much more interesting. I’m not sure why the product is needed.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/10 "2012-04-08T17:26:48Z")
> [@aruvqan](#):
>
> My BF of the time and I complained at the pork flavoring essence in the kosher section and baffled the grocery manager who didn’t seem to understand why a person keeping kosher would complain :smack:
The kosher cafe at my college served Bacos. Totally kosher and everyone was ok with it.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/11 "2012-04-08T18:11:02Z")
> [@amarinth](#):
>
> The one that stumped me was the kosher orange juice. Which was, of course, more expensive than the non-kosher orange juice.
>
> I’m still not sure what the deal is. They both have identical sets of ingredients (oranges), and I don’t think the non-kosher orange juice ferments, otherwise my breakfasts would be much more interesting. I’m not sure why the product is needed.
It’s probably differences in production. Some foods are OK because they come off the assembly line first, when the equipment is cleanest and is therefore less likely to have residue that can start fermentation. Others are OK because the process is slightly different; the kosher OJ might be OK because it’s been pasteurized while the regular stuff hasn’t been. (OJ does, in fact, ferment; you’re probably finishing the carton too fast to notice.)
And it might just be marketing. There are foods that are labeled “Kosher for Passover” that would be just fine for Passover when they’re on the shelf in July or November. The product itself is no different, but slapping a kosher label on it may improve sales, at least this time of year.
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### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/12 "2012-04-08T18:16:24Z")
Doesn’t some kosher stuff (I think kosher-for-Passover) need to be eyeballed by a rabbi while it’s being made?
I could see how renting a rabbi for a week full of mornings to watch your equipment roll food off into packages could get expensive.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/13 "2012-04-08T18:21:25Z")
> [@aruvqan](#):
>
> My BF of the time and I complained at the pork flavoring essence in the kosher section and baffled the grocery manager who didn’t seem to understand why a person keeping kosher would complain :smack:
Wasn’t there a supermarket a few years ago that advertised a Chanukah _Ham_? :eek:
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/14 "2012-04-08T18:24:41Z")
> [@Lasciel](#):
>
> Doesn’t some kosher stuff (I think kosher-for-Passover) need to be eyeballed by a rabbi while it’s being made?.
I don’t think so. They just have to have periodic inspections.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/15 "2012-04-08T18:36:32Z")
> [@Lasciel](#):
>
> Doesn’t some kosher stuff (I think kosher-for-Passover) need to be eyeballed by a rabbi while it’s being made?
>
> I could see how renting a rabbi for a week full of mornings to watch your equipment roll food off into packages could get expensive.
All foods to be certified kosher must have their factories inspected at regular intervals to make sure that the ingredients are kosher and that the process is kosher. For example, a snack-food manufacturer makes their crackers in seven different flavors: plain, cheddar, parmesan, sea salt and pepper, garlic, onion, and monterey jack. The plain, sea salt, garlic, and onion varieties are kosher; the rest are not. (There are kosher cheeses out there, and there are cheese-flavored snacks that are kosher. Work with me here, OK?) The manufacturer’s processes are such that the ingredients of the basic cracker are kosher, and that the ingredients of the cheese flavoring don’t mix in with the kosher varieties. They have a rabbi inspect the plant to verify that this is true; the rabbi then takes his paperwork back to his employer, who give the go-ahead to put this information on the food’s packaging. That’s the basic procedure. The agency re-inspects the plant every now and again to make sure everything’s still good. Certification is expensive, which explains the price differential on some items.
Here is the Orthodox Union’s 2012 guide to Passover. It’s 116 pages long, but it gets into pretty much all of the rules that an observant Jew would follow. Some are more observant than others. For example, some will take the spirit of the law and not eat any food that is leavened, regardless of the method. Others are more literal and avoid only food that has been leavened by fermentation, but food leavened with baking soda, baking powder, or cream of tartar are fine because those don’t involve fermentation; there’s another process at work there. And so forth.
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### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/16 "2012-04-08T18:57:10Z")
Interesting! Thanks.
(although an actual link would be neat also. 😃 )
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/17 "2012-04-08T20:51:17Z")
> [@Lasciel](#):
>
> Interesting! Thanks.
>
> (although an actual link would be neat also. 😃 )
Crap. I’m now on my phone so it’s harder to link.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/18 "2012-04-08T20:52:42Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> It’s probably differences in production. Some foods are OK because they come off the assembly line first, when the equipment is cleanest and is therefore less likely to have residue that can start fermentation. Others are OK because the process is slightly different; the kosher OJ might be OK because it’s been pasteurized while the regular stuff hasn’t been. (OJ does, in fact, ferment; you’re probably finishing the carton too fast to notice.)
You forgot the very significant (to Jews) “was NOT processed or packaged on the Sabbath”. It’s a detail often forgotten by gentiles, but kosher food producers can not produce food from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and still label it “kosher”.
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### Author:  [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/19 "2012-04-08T21:05:48Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Wasn’t there a supermarket a few years ago that advertised a Chanukah _Ham_? :eek:
[Snopes says so](http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/hanukkah.asp).
> [@](#):
>
> Here is the Orthodox Union’s 2012 guide to Passover. It’s 116 pages long, but it gets into pretty much all of the rules that an observant Jew would follow. Some are more observant than others. For example, some will take the spirit of the law and not eat any food that is leavened, regardless of the method. Others are more literal and avoid only food that has been leavened by fermentation, but food leavened with baking soda, baking powder, or cream of tartar are fine because those don’t involve fermentation; there’s another process at work there. And so forth.
Which is why I did not know Tam tams were leavened ☹
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### Author:  [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-local-supermarket-was-ready-for-passover/618160/20 "2012-04-08T22:18:32Z")
> [@Lasciel](#):
>
> Doesn’t some kosher stuff (I think kosher-for-Passover) need to be eyeballed by a rabbi while it’s being made?
>
> I could see how renting a rabbi for a week full of mornings to watch your equipment roll food off into packages could get expensive.
As **Ms Robyn** pointed out, the process doesn’t necessarily entail “renting a rabbi for a week full of mornings” — initial certification followed by periodic reinspection may be sufficient. However, it might be interesting to note that there are [multiple kosher certifying agencies](http://www.kashrut.com/agencies/), and their requirements may be different. (I believe the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations is the heavyweight, with the Organized Kashrus Laboratories more-or-less close behind, but that may be outdated.) In any case, if you want your product certified by (for example) Vaad Harabbanim of Flatbush, and they demand a rabbi onsite during production, you will comply with that demand. And pay for it.
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