Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, a well-regarded expert on insect infestation in foods, has issued a warning regarding rice. Rav Schwartz reports there is a new insect infestation contaminating rice, telling Arutz 7 that packages of rice being sold in stores around Israel are indeed infected with this insect.
Water, Strawberries, Salmon… and Rice?
Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, a well-regarded expert on insect infestation in foods, has issued a warning regarding rice. Rav Schwartz reports there is a new insect infestation contaminating rice, telling Arutz 7 that packages of rice being sold in stores around Israel are indeed infected with this insect.
The rabbi compared it to the relatively recent find of the anisakis worm in fish, explaining we must remain vigilant and address new realities as they appear. He warns that one who is not an expert will not discern it is a bug, but perhaps believes it is dirt. He explains by watching it, one will see the ‘dirt’ begin moving.
When asked which companies are infected, he declined to name names but stated the rice of some of the best firms was tested, companies known for a clean product, and the results were alarming.
The rav explained that in the past, we have been familiar with the insects that plague rice, but this is new, an insect that is difficult to discern, but nonetheless visible and present in large numbers.
When asked what consumers should do, the rav responded that new methods of cleaning must be implemented, stating one must buy window screening with small holes and place the rice on these screens to filter out the small bugs, which will fall through the holes while the rice kernels will remain on top.
The rabbi explains that at present, it cannot be determined which batches of rice are infected so therefore, everyone should do this prior to cooking rice. He explains that he cannot tell people not to eat rice, for this would be a gezeira the tzibur cannot adhere to, hence the need for the additional inspection/cleaning.
Rabbi Schwartz adds that he has informed the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and various badatzim and he hopes they will act appropriately and expeditiously. He is also hopeful that in the future, rice will be imported to Israel from Europe instead of the Far East, explaining that Belgium rice is placed in a large room which is fumigated, thereby killing insects, which are then significantly easier to remove.
not so simple
Unless you can see them with your naked eye, its totally ok. Did you know there are microscopic bugs living on your skin? DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR MOUTH! And there are microscopic bugs living in orange skins…for those who like the zest….
DeClasse- Intellectual
is this just white rise? What about brown, red, black and other colored rice especially thsoe that come from California and the Far East???
uw
What does Rabbi Scwartz say about heskem makirei kehuna?
Chossid
Finally someone who knows halocho. Thank you number one!
Milhouse
#1, can’t you read? Everyone knows that invisible insects are permitted, but what on earth could have made you think these insects are invisible?
#2, so far the only problem we know about is in EY. We don’t know whether this problem exists at all in the USA, so it’s too early to speculate about what kinds of rice it might be in.
#3, Huh? What has that got to do with insects in food? Why should Rabbi Schwartz have an opinion about it? (By the way, since you brought up the subject, do you think you know better than the Ralbach and Reb Hersh Pesach?)
#4, who doesn’t know this halocho? But what has it got to do with the subject?
home
how does this effect america?
Difference between EY and USA
There has always been a problem in Eretz Yisroel with bugs in rice. This is a another one. In America we don’t have the same problems there gave there.
Raizel
I was in ot lunchroom on east Flatbush 10 years ago and the cook was checking her rice. I asked her how could she check rice for a whole school? She showed me a moving worm on the plate!! Don’t think America is Anderish! Es is nit anderish! As a sidepoint does this include the vacuum sealed bags of rice or just regular bags?
Mendel
“…explaining that Belgium rice is placed in a large room which is fumigated, thereby killing insects, which are then significantly easier to remove.”
Why are they “significantly easier to remove”? Because they don’t run away from you when you chase them? I’ll go after them with a baseball bat!
Very Simple
To Not so simple, when you get lice in your fingernails lets see how fast you will put your thumb in your mouth. Don’t downplay those who are zahir in kashrus to promote your own selfish standards.
The micro organisms crawling on your skin and in your gut are bacteria. Bacteria is not a part of the animal kingdom and you cannot view it with your vision. This article is about BUGS, as in ANTHROPODS. True many anthropods are dificult to see without magnification, but most lavre grow to big fat adults and can crawl around in your food. These pests have a full visible exoskeleton with hairy legs, just like spiders, ladybugs, and they are crunchy too.
Whats worse: Eat chazer and be oiver on one lav, or chew this protein and be oiver on seven! v’dal
Milhouse
Raizel, America is in fact very different from EY. When it comes to infestation every region and every season is different.
Nechama
Why not show us a picture of this creature. Is it black, red, white? How can we check for it if we don’t know what to look for. Incomplete article. Not enough to buy the screen.
Bart
Millhouse you are from the few here with seichel and I always wish I could click a thumb up button to vote you up
BUT in this case I disagree. I have a lot of boxes of rice stored in my kitchen from different manufacturers including the big names like Carolina but all from the US. The reason is since my wife likes to stock up for a long time instead of running to the corner store every other day when we run out of something. Every type of rice we used, no matter where it came from, ended up with bugs in it after it was stored for a long time.
Its possible that invisible eggs get in somewhere, but don’t survive to visible adults unless conditions are right for a long enough length of time. I therefore think that it depends on the storage conditions of the rice. Most modern rice manufactures seem to take good care when handling and storing their grain, but there still remains a storage problem once the rice is in your house.
Therefore I suspect ALL rice regardless of its origin to be infested.
And America is NO different.
Exterminator
To 12,
A bit of googling turned up quite a bit:
Adult rice weevils are black or brown and are clearly visible: http://t3.gstatic.com/image…
baby rice weevils have an appearance of a worm: http://t1.gstatic.com/image…
but sometimes you could see their chicks growing inside the rice kernal itself: http://t0.gstatic.com/image…
So you would look for black little monsters and serpents but to catch the eggs before they hatch I also look for dark spots within white rice itself preferably against a backlight
I’m no kashrus expert but I do know my bugs