Although coffee was always considered one of the “safer” beverages to consume for people who observe kosher, it has become much more challenging in recent months.
The latest culprit is none other than the popular Keurig machines used by large numbers of kashrus observers in their homes and offices, leading rabbis told a convention of Agudath Israel of America this past weekend (November 13-16).
According to Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union (OU) Kashrus Division, certified kosher K-Cups used in the machines no longer have the OU symbol on the individual cups although they remain on the boxes that they come in.
Thus, a kosher consumer who randomly finds a K-Cup without a box may inadvertently be using a non-certified K-Cup causing one rabbi to suggest that the user of such a Keurig machine might have to refrain from using the machine for 24 hours, run a kosher K-Cup through the machine and even kosher the two metal pins.
Many ordinary consumers attending the convention were outraged at the Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. for removing the symbols from the individual cups.
Starbucks fans were also warned to avoid stores that sell other items besides coffee as well as kiosks in many malls that may share dishwashers with other non-kosher franchise brands.
Rabbis speaking at the convention of Orthodox Jews from around the country explained that some of the equipment, glassware and other utensils could be contaminated by being cleaned with non-kosher versions in a Starbucks store. They warned consumers to be aware of the environment where the coffee is being purchased.
yes the utensils are washed with plates which have had treif product on them.
Being that the utensils are being washed – in boiling water – together with dirty dairy or treif utensils, the coffer utensils become not fit for use.
the article spells out how to use the machine again, but it definitely needs to be Kashered to some extent, and can not be used for 24 hours!
this could apply on airplanes, in coffee shops, and with any home or office coffe machine of this sort.
The OU and our Rabonim should write a more extensive article about the subject. A Yerei Shamayim should be careful what he puts into his mouth
lipton tea sooth dunkins doughnuts roast is kosher what’s wrong with those k cups
1. Yes, the ones that were kosher are still kosher. Yes, it’s a labeling issue; what part of the article made you think otherwise? If you see the box the cup came from, you can check for the OU. But if you get only an individual cup, you have no way of knowing whether it’s kosher. 2. Yes, there are brands of K-cup that have other hechsherim 3. Yes, there are treife K-cups 4. Yes, there are cholov akum K-cups. To #9, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Not all K-cups are kosher. To #11, NOT all K-cups… Read more »
Many businesses offer free coffee to their customers. The article is also saying that people before you may have chosen an OUD flavor or even a non-kosher brand which could cause problems with the machine itself .
your headline says one thing, your article another.
It seems that whoever wrote this needs a strong cup of coffee.
I’m guessing it’s a design issue. K cups having very little space on the actual cup didn’t want to put the hechsher on it thinking of you buy the box you’ll know it’s kosher and they don’t sell them individually. OU thinks this is a bad idea for some reason and decided to publicize it.
there are o-u-d flavors out there and there are non kosher flavors as well
The coffee subject is something I have to the attention of several rabbis. My family has been in the coffee business for over 100 years and not all coffee is kosher. As the prices go up, check your coffee well as sometimes it does contain beans or corn. Buying ground coffee could be even more problematic.
1. Read what it says that some places wash their equipment with the non kosher
2. Read up how flavored coffee is made and then you’ll know why you need a hechsher.
If coffee is as you say: kosher because it’s done only in a coffee-only facility – then how is it that these coffees have flavors?
It seems some are Kosher, others aren’t, and it may not be clear anymore which ones are – because there is no symbol on the individual cups. That seems to be the gist of teh article. I wonder why the company decided to take off the symbol from their cups..?
The cups that were kosher remain kosher, and the ones that were treif remain treif. The only change is that they’re no longer printing the OU on each cup, but only on the box. So if you see an individual cup you can’t know whether it’s kosher without asking to see the box it came from, which may not always be available. This is a major incovenience for the kosher consumer. I realise that the cup labels are small, and real estate on them is at a premium, but this decision seems poorly-thought-out.
Kcups are still kosher. Please don’t stir up controversy with the guise of frumkeit and misleading titles.
1) Are the k-cups still o-u kosher, as long as the box the cups came in has the hechsher? (If so, this seems to be a labeling issue, not a kashrus issue.) 2) Are there flavors/types of k-cups that have a hechsher but not that of the o-u? 3) Are there flavors/types of k-cups that are NOT kosher (I am seldom in a position to drink k-cup hot beverages.)? 4) Are there flavors/types of k-cups that have the o-u but are o-u-D (which would mean they’re not cholov Yisrael)? I ASK THAT SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER THESE. Let’s just hope this… Read more »
Exactly !!! No need for hechsher for coffee , it’s always done in a coffe only fecilaty , it’s all about the money!!!
in short the ou symbol will only be printed on the box and not the individual kcups
This article doesn’t say that the cups changed ingredients to become non-kosher but rather the company is removing the symbol so we won’t know if it’s kosher or not unless you see the box.
So if it does have an OU on the actual cup, does that mean its Kosher?
Read the article. The hechsher was not removed.
Read the article. They are still Kosher. They just do not have the OU on each individual container. Thus, if you don’t take it out if the box yourself, you don’t know if the box had the OU on it.
best coffee and least expensive – and an an OK on it FYI
@1, Did you read the article? They are still certified, but the symbol does not appear on the cup itself, making it hard to tell if an individual cup is kosher or not. I noticed this two weeks ago at work (although I have access to boxes, which do have the Ou on them).
Exactly what became unkosher? Sorry to be cynical, but maybe they didn’t change anything, but just didn’t want to pay the price