Poultry shortage in London after 80 percent declared non-kosher
Poultry has gone off the menu for many Orthodox London
Jews because 80 percent of the chickens that have been slaughtered for them
were declared not kosher.
“We apologize to the public for the shortage of chickens
in the recent/current week/s,” according to an announcement dated March 7 by
the Kashrut Committee of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.
The shortages are due to kashrut supervisors “finding up
to 80 percent treifoth” -- Hebrew for non-kosher meat – “despite the fact that
the poultry was purchased from farms with good quality chickens. We are
endeavoring B'ezras Hashem to find a speedy solution,” said the statement by
the body responsible for haredi Jewish life in London, adding the birds were
found to have “torn sinews.”
The Israel-based news site Behadrey Haredim reported that
the problem described matched the symptoms caused by a virus which appeared in
U.S. kosher chicken plants since the summer of 2012, which causes the tendons
to stiffen and then snap.
But while the problem occurred in only 25 percent of
birds in the U.S., it is threatening to shut down the kosher poultry industry
in London ahead of Passover, when countless Jewish families consume the
traditional holiday dish of matzah balls and chicken soup.
Behadrey Hadarim quoted an unnamed rabbinical judge who
said that if infection rates reach 90 percent, supervisors may need to declare
the entire produce non-kosher, in keeping with past rulings by authorities on
kashrut issues. In such a case, chicken would have to be imported to the United
Kingdom, causing a considerable markup.
Thousands of Orthodox Londoners tried but could not
purchase kosher chicken, the news website reported.
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