Lack of ‘Kosher Cop’ in New York a Problem for Kosher Consumers

The departure of the head of the Kosher Law Enforcement Division of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has created a vacuum in which many consumers have charged that there are many incidents of misrepresentations of kosher foods.

KosherToday has learned that the Department is looking for a replacement for Rabbi Luzer Weis but that it has no plans to rehire the inspectors that were ousted in an ostensible budget move several years ago.

Sources say that while the Department is committed to staff the kosher division with an official, it hopes that some of the routine kosher law enforcement will be carried out by New York State health inspectors.

Observers note that the absence of the inspectors has allowed co-mingling of kosher and non-kosher items in aisles that are labeled as kosher. Some Orthodox Jewish organizations have been urging the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo “to put teeth back into kosher law enforcement.”