02 Jul KASHRUS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

May one eat
a salad at
non-kosher
restaurants

while on the road?

Rav Belsky, zt”l ruled that one may

absolutely not eat a salad at a non-
kosher or vegan restaurant. Here are

several of the reasons:
Maris Ayin – eating in a non-kosher
restaurant gives the impression that
one is doing something forbidden.
The knives used to cut the salad
may be soiled from non-Kosher use

and that would make the salad non-
kosher.

Even if the knives were clean, if they
were used to cut ‘sharp’ or spicy

vegetables, they will transfer the non-
kosher taste from previous usage.

Many vegetables need to be checked
for insect infestation in order to be
considered kosher.

Can one eat an ice cream from a
store scooped from a container
that has the OU certification
but the store does not?
This is something to be very careful
about. People assume that if the name

of the store is
a brand that’s
been certified
that it means
the store is also
certified and
that’s incorrect.
First of all, just
because a store
has a certain
name doesn’t
mean they’re
only selling
that brand.
Number two,
there’s hardly
an ice cream brand in which all of the
flavors are Kosher. Some flavors use
marshmallows, which are usually not
kosher, and other ingredients that can
prevent them from being certified. So
if you go into the store and you see
that the tub that you want to purchase

the ice cream from is marked with
a valid certification then that’s fine.
You just have to make sure that the
scooper is completely clean and also
that the cone and the toppings are
kosher. If not, you shouldn’t buy it
even if you know that the tub you’re
buying from is certified.