March 12, 2013

London, UK, is witnessing a shortage in kosher poultry as the Jewish Passover approaches

In recent weeks, slaughtered chickens have been declared "unkosher", meaning food which fails to meet standards of Jewish food laws.

The shortages are due to kashrut supervisors "finding up to 80% treifoth" -- Hebrew for non-kosher meat -- "despite the fact that the poultry was purchased from farms with good quality chickens. We are endeavoring B'ezras Hashem to find a speedy solution," said a March 7 statement by the Kashrut Committee of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, which is responsible for Orthodox Jewish life in London.

The statement said that birds were found to have "torn sinews."

An unnamed rabbinical judge said that if infection rates reach 90%, supervisors may need to declare the entire produce non-kosher in keeping with past rulings by authorities on kashrut issues. In such a case, chicken would have to be imported to the UK, causing a considerable price increase.

A report stated that the described problem matched the symptoms of a virus which appeared in US kosher chicken plants since the summer of 2012. The problem occurred in only 25% of birds in the US.

Thousands of Orthodox Londoners could not purchase kosher chicken.

Empire Kosher, the largest kosher poultry producer in the US, has shut down production of kosher chickens on February. 28, leading to fears of a shortage for Passover.

An unnamed source said that birds were not processed because many of them had snapped leg tendons, rendering them unkosher. Company spokesperson, Elie Rosenfeld, added that the plant did not slaughter chickens that arrived on February. 28 as about half of them were not at the appropriate weight.

Poultry is a staple for Passover, which starts on the evening of March 25.