Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Tempers churn over Tnuva mislabeling

Jerusalem Post: Tempers churn over Tnuva mislabeling

Today's religious scandal involves Tenuva, the largest dairy in Israel, and the fact that the Chief Rabbinate has allowed Tenuva to conceal the fact that, occasionally, cholev stam* derivatives find their way into Tenuva products. Members of the Movement for Fair Government have petitioned the government to require all products containing such milk to be specifically marked as such.

Maybe it's the American in me, but I think this is idiotic.

I agree a company should be prevented from printing lies on it's labels -for example, I would not want Tenuva to claim their products were Cholev Yisroel if they are not- but why should Tenuva be forced to announce the presence of cholov stam? No issue of public health is a stake. If Tenuva wishes to alienate customers with misleading labels that's Tenuva's perogative. And if Tenuva's customers wish to take their business to a competitor who is willing to promise that their product is 100 percent cholov yisroel, well, god bless them both.

*The article refers to chalav nachri, not chalav stam, but I think this must be a mistake. All agree that a Jew may not drink chalav nochri.

No comments: