Now we understand why Sephardic Jews are in general more lenient with non-hametz foods, provided the food-product was bought before Pesah. Based on the above mentioned principle, Rabbi Obadia Yosef writes that according to the Sephardic tradition if a food, for example a marmalade, was produced before Pesah, and we know that it does not contain any hametz ingredient in a proportion of 1.6% or above, it will be permitted for Pesah even if it did not have any special supervision for Pesah.
Non-Edible Hametz
Sephardic Jews are also more lenient than most Ashkenazi Jews in keeping and using during Pesah non-edible hametz. Any product unfit for human or animal consumption, even if it contains hametz, could be used during Pesah. That includes for example: cosmetics, glues, paint, colognes, perfumes, soaps, detergents and any other cleaning products, etc.
In most cases the suspicion that the above products contain a hametz product or by-product is more a theoretical than a practical assumption. In any case, there is neither a need to check for the absence of hametz, nor for any kind of kosher for Pesah certification, for non-edible products. Applying this principle, for Sephardim the consumption of a medicine in the form of capsules (non-chewable pills) is permissible, even if they might contain wheat starch or any other kind of hametz (which, again, it would be very unusual, since in the pharmaceutical industry wheat starch is not commonly used. The starch normally used as an excipient or binder in pills comes usually from potato or corn). In the case of chewable pills, syrups, powder drinks and/or any other flavored medicines or vitamins, one should make sure that these products do not contain any hametz in their composition.
Selling the Hametz
But Sephardic Jews are not always more lenient than Ashkenazi Jews in terms of Pesah laws. Or at least, they weren’t in the past.
Sephardic Jews are very strict in not keeping hametz in their homes during Pesah. In other words, they did not use to sell their hametz, let alone sell their homes with its hametz, etc. In Sephardic communities, people would get rid of their hametz products. Giving it as a gift to a gentile. Only the owner of a grocery store or something similar would consider selling his hametz. The, he would do that not in a symbolic way, but in an entirely formal way, giving the keys of his store to the gentile and renouncing any accountability for the hametz products of his store. The rest of the community would not dare to keep hametz at home. Persian Jews are famously strict in not leaving any hametz residue during Pesah. Even today, Persian families would start cleaning for Pesah and getting rid of their hametz several months (I have seen from three to six!) in advance.
