K A S H R U T . C O M_©

October 31, 2024 from Australian Jewish News:

"A flood of protests to Kraft Heinz has led to a reversal of a decision by the trans-Tasman food manufacturing company to restore kashrut supervision at its New Zealand facilities. The pullout last month has affected multiple products available on Australian shelves.

"After The AJN reported last week that Kraft Heinz had withdrawn from kashrut supervision in New Zealand, Kosher Australia general manager Yankel Wajsbort received communication from the company last week that it will re-enter the supervision process.

"Although Wajsbort was notified of the decision to opt back in, he was not given a reason for either the withdrawal or the restoration of supervision.

"He has however been told it was not a decision made by senior management, which has now reversed it. He believes it was made by a downstream manager to cut costs linked to quality assurance measures. He does not believe it was implemented in order to switch to cheaper, non-kosher ingredients.

"However, consumers, who were advised not to purchase products from the Heinz, Golden Circle, Cottee’s and Watties brands after October 11, will need a little more patience before they can tuck into their tomato sauce, canned soups and syrups again.

"Kosher Australia is organising a surveillance audit in New Zealand in three weeks, after which it will take a bit longer for re-certified products to flow back into Australian retail outlets. Wajsbort said the time lag will depend on whether any “substantive changes” had been made to the products. Kosher Australia will announce re-certification when it is made.

"'“The consumers have won,' said Wajsbort, noting that dozens of concerned people had contacted Kraft Heinz’s Australian help-desk hotline, enduring long waits, after which they were not given a reason for the ending of supervision.

"'There was pressure from a number of quarters – both through the help desk and through presentations to senior management,' Wajsbort told The AJN on Monday.

"He said kashrut-observant Jews are 'heavily reliant on their products … and [products] were effectively being denied to that community. It’s not good, considering that the costs [to the company] are negligible, very little work is done by them, it’s mostly done by ourselves.'