ANT KATZ

The new-style kashrut notice was in itself unusual and SAJR Online at first thought it was an advert. But a call to UOS CEO Darren Sevitz confirmed it was a genuine notice regarding Filo Frozen Yoghurt.

“This is a pilot study for a brand new model,” says the kashrut department. “The model identifies kosher products that are sold in a store that is not kosher. As long as the product itself is kosher, manufactured in a completely controlled environment and supervised by us, we’ll make it kosher for you!”

The notice was with reference to the Filo Frozen Yoghurt store at the Blu-Bird shopping centre, which now has four machines producing frozen yoghurt, two of which are clearly identified as dedicated kosher machines.

Precedent exists

Sevitz told SAJR Online that it is not normal for the kashrut department to allow a section of a treif store to produce some kosher product under their supervision.

This is not an entirely new model as the kashrut department do certify the manufactured popcorn at all Ster Kinekor cinemas.

But kosher movie-goers should remember that while the popcorn and plain salt are both kosher under supervision, the flavoured salts are not.

The kashrut department have also thrown out the following to the kosher community: “Is there something delicious you’ve been eying out, convinced that all the ingredients must be kosher?” they ask. “Let us know and we will do our very best to #MakeItKosher. Simply email us, tweet @UOSofSA or Facebook us using the hashtag #MakeItKosher and we’ll investigate,” they say.