Kashrut: A Ton of Problems with Tuna

Canned tuna often seems like a 'simple' kosher issue, but it's not. To begin with, we're not discussing kosher certifications from abroad where the supervisor sometimes arrives only once in a while... to justify his existence and perhaps also to check that there is a label for "bishul Yisrael" (cooked by a Jew). And if you ask how he dares, he will surely explain that his presence is rather unnecessary, since the factory only produces tuna fish... and surely there are no concerns about non-kosher items... and certainly no concern about "bishul goyim" (food cooked by non-Jews) because who cooks fish... it's not cooking, it's smoking... and even if a non-Jew did the cooking, some international authorities permit food cooked by non-Jews when done in food factories.  

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Of course, most kosher certification bodies in Israel produce at factories where the fish preserves are only from tuna fish, since there are many types of fish preserves in the world, some made from non-kosher fish species or those whose kosher status is questionable, and there are even canned crabs and seafood. Therefore, they usually choose factories where there is already some kind of kosher certification line. But from there to a mehadrin (stringent) kosher certification, the path is very long...

For your information, tuna fish arrive intact at fish factories located on ocean shores, and there the production process begins. Immediately in the first stage, the supervisor must verify that the fish have been thoroughly cleaned with all the abdominal cavity removed, plus the fish head has been removed, and the fish meat has been cleaned and scrubbed with a knife to prevent the presence of worms, or alternatively, residues of fish food that may contain non-kosher items.

After the fish has been thoroughly cleaned, it is placed along with hundreds of other fish into a huge oven containing about ten carts, each with several trays. In the oven, they don't undergo a baking process, but are cooked using steam systems. Unfortunately, kosher certification bodies that are not so strict about "bishul Yisrael" are satisfied with the supervisor lighting the cooking ovens at the beginning of the production line for all working days, even though the actual cooking of the fish is done by non-Jewish workers. True, such low-level kosher certification will "turn a blind eye," claiming that cooking by steam is not considered non-Jewish cooking that is forbidden, since what's the difference between cooking by smoke which is permitted, and cooking by steam? After all, they used to smoke meat by placing it above cooking pots, and the pot vapors would smoke the meat. But admit it, this is not the level of kosher certification you expect... and how unfortunate that kosher certification bodies that are meticulous about this are very few.

By the way, what happens when your production line starts right after that kosher certification body finished its work? Then the ovens need to be kashered. We remind you that a utensil in which a non-Jew cooked is forbidden to use without undergoing a process of kashering, not to mention the fact that locals make good use of even a few hours break to produce tuna fish for themselves, thus rendering the ovens forbidden for use. We'll just tell you that a mehadrin certification requires that every Sunday the ovens and carts undergo kashering because of the Shabbat day when fish production is done for the locals.

We'll conclude with a story told by one of the rabbis of kashrut, when he conducted a preliminary inspection at a factory with a kashrut certification whose name we will not mention. After several hours of work without finding any defect, the kashrut supervisors took a short work break and left the production area for a short rest. That rabbi, who was curious by nature and an expert in all matters of worms, decided to stay in the production area to feel the fish and examine their nature, to see if they were indeed free of worms. But how great was his surprise when he saw the great commotion of locals who were busy with the ovens for short periods of time. When he asked them why, they innocently replied that they were using the short break to cook the abdominal cavity with all its contents, as there is no greater delicacy than it... and the abdominal cavity is full of crab remnants, octopuses, and what not...