29 Aug KASHRUS QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

May one buy cut fruit from a store that does
not have a Hechsher?
No! We get this question all the time. People are invited
all the time to meetings in non-kosher places and they
obviously know they can’t have the meat there, but they’ll say “Why
can’t I have the fruit salad?” Rabbanim who are involved in certifications
of restaurants say that the kitchen is very busy. When the order comes
in for a fruit salad, they grab the closest knife that could’ve been
used a moment
ago to cut up
non-kosher meat.
Therefore, I can
not recommend
eating cut fruit
in a non-kosher
restaurant unless
you know that
the knife used for

cutting the fruit is
definitely not used
for anything else.
Can a store
that’s open
on Shabbos,
be considered
Kosher?
Technically it can
be considered
Kosher if the store
is owned by non-Jews. Non-jews don’t have to be shomer shabbos
so they can cook/bake on shabbos. However, they still have to have
supervision so there has to be a fear of supervision on Shabbos.
We at the OU never certify a retail establishment that’s open on
Shabbos unless all money that’s going to be made is prepaid
before shabbos.