02 Jun Kashruth Questions of the Week

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 youknow 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.