2015 AKC Passover Guide

The following information is based on the kosher-for-Passover guidance offered in this year’s holiday guide from the Atlanta Kashruth Commission and Rabbi Reuven Stein.

Leave the Cooking to Them 

Passover starts Friday, April 3, at 7:42 p.m.

The following establishments offer pesadik prepared foods:

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• Dolce Catering & Bakery, 770-451-3065.
• The Goodfriend Catering Co., 678-222-3719.
• The Kosher Gourmet, 404-636-1114.

Stock Up on Essentials

These groceries and specialty stores will sell you so much more than matzah:

• The Spicy Peach, 404-334-7200.
• The Kosher Gourmet, 404-636-1114.
• Kroger Toco Hills, which has a Passover store within a store near the front, 404-633-8694.
• Publix Toco Hills, which places special Passover products near the front, 404-638-6022.
• Other Kroger and Publix stores in the area also have special Passover sections.

Be on the Lookout

• For those who use quinoa, the AKC this year recommends using only quinoa with Pesach certification.
• Joyva and Irene’s products, even with the Pesach certifications they have, are not recommended.
• Egg matzah should not be eaten on Pesach except by sick and elderly people who cannot digest regular matzah. Even the sick and elderly cannot fulfill their obligation at the seder with egg matzah. Chocolate-covered matzah and Manischewitz Passover Tams also fail to meet the seder obligation.
• Many people use romaine lettuce for the mitzvah of maror (bitter herbs). Some insects that blend into the green leaves are on the lettuce and are forbidden to be eaten. Check very thoroughly.
• Even though some produce may have a wax coating, the AKC policy is that it can be used without peeling.
• Double-check labels. Many Pesach brands have similar year-round products that are not kosher for Pesach. These products can get mixed up on the shelves.
• Not all wines are kosher for Passover. Some companies, such as Manischewitz, produce the same types of wines for Pesach and not for Pesach. The bottles look almost identical. Please check the label.
• Items such as raisins and other dried fruits should have reliable supervision for Pesach.
• Some matzahs and wines that are kosher for Passover should not be used for the seder. Examples include gluten-free matzah made from tapioca starch instead of flour and wine made from berries instead of grapes. Do not make hamotzei or hagafen on these products.
• You may use kosher-for-Passover products from previous years.
• The following medicinal ingredients are not kosher for Pesach: avena sativa, beta-glucan,

prolamine, secale, sodium lauroyl oat amino acids, and triticum vulgare.

• After Pesach, Jewish law forbids eating chametz that was in the possession of a Jew who did not sell it.
• Among the items that cannot be kashered for Passover are bread machines, china, slow cookers, George Foreman grills, graters, knives with plastic handles, pasta makers, plastic utensils, porcelain, porcelain-enamel pots, Pyrex, sandwich makers, stoneware, synthetic rubber, Teflon, toaster ovens and waffle irons.

Sephardic Options

Sephardim may use rice on Pesach as long as it has no additives or vitamins and is thoroughly checked three times before use. Baby rice cereals and some soy milk could contain real chametz and should not be used. Processed products for Sephardim including tomato sauce, peanut butter and tuna fish should not be used unless they have a reliable Pesach hechsher.

Wake Up to Kosher Coffee

Somehow, these details aren’t covered in the Maxwell House haggadah. To prepare coffeemakers that have brewed only unflavored, caffeinated, pure coffee, clean them thoroughly, use new filters, and replace your usual glass carafe with one that’s new or that you use only on Pesach.

For all other coffeemakers, start by cleaning them thoroughly, then don’t use them for 24 hours. Pour one cup of water into the chamber. Heat the water in the unit and allow it to drip over the exposed metal base. Replace the plastic filter holder, and use new filters.

Single-cup machines such as Keurigs offer their own complications while avoiding the need to replace carafes and filters. The machines would require kashering year-round if used with nonkosher products, including hot cocoa mix. But the kosher status of the machine is not affected if someone places a nonkosher or non-kosher-for-Passover mug under the machine.

You should kasher your Keurig before Passover use because some kosher products are not kosher for Passover. Always check with your rabbi, but many authorities agree that you can kasher a Keurig for Passover.

As for what you put in your coffeemaker, it must be regular, unflavored coffee, whole bean or ground. Acceptable caffeinated options include 365 Everyday Value, Dunkin Donuts 100% Arabica, Ellis, Folgers, Green Mountain, Java Joe’s, Publix, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s Coffee, instant Folgers (regular and, in an exception to the rule, decaffeinated), and Nescafe Taster’s Choice (only regular). For decaffeinated coffee, you may choose unflavored Ellis, Hena, White House, Parker House or Folgers (no chicory).

No Pet Exceptions

Cats and Dogs aren’t exempt from AKC laws

One may not eat, benefit from or own leavened products, so make sure that your pet foods are chametz-free. Do not use a product that contains wheat (cracked, flour, germ, gluten, ground, grouts, middlings, starch), barley (cracked, flour), oats (flour, grouts, hulled), pasta, rye or brewer’s dried yeast.

For cats, these foods are acceptable this year if produced in the United States:

• Blue Wilderness Grain Free (dry) — chicken, duck and salmon.
• Evangers — when bearing CRC Pesach approval.
• Friskies (canned) — Special Diet Classic Paté Ocean Whitefish Dinner, Special Diet Classic Paté Beef & Chicken Entrée, Special Diet Classic Paté Turkey & Giblets Dinner, Special Diet Classic Paté With Salmon, and Special Diet Classic Paté Beef & Chicken Entrée.
• Prescription Diet — a/d, c/d (dry only), d/d (except duck), g/d (dry only), k/d (dry only), m/d (canned only), r/d, s/d, t/d, w/d (dry only) and z/d.
• Wellness Core — Grain Free (dry) Original, Turkey & Turkey Meal & Duck (canned) Orig­inal, and Salmon & Whitefish & Herring.

Dogs

• Blue Wilderness Grain Free (dry) — chicken recipe (puppy, small breed, senior, large breed, healthy weight), duck and salmon.
• Evangers — when bearing CRC Pesach approval.
• Mighty Dog (canned, no gravy) — Chicken Egg & Bacon Country Platter, Chicken & Smoked Bacon Combo, and Hearty Beef Dinner With Lamb and Rice.
• Prescription Diet — a/d, c/d, d/d g/d, h/d, j/d (dry only), k/d, n/d, r/d, s/d, t/d, u/d and w/d (dry only).
• Science Diet (canned) — adult beef and chicken.
• Wellness Core Grain Free (dry) — original, reduced fat and small breed.
• Wellness Core Grain Free (canned) — Puppy, Turkey & Chicken Liver & Turkey Liver, and Beef & Venison & Lamb.

Kosher for Passover

You can count on the following items to be acceptable during Pesach:

• Baby food — First Choice applesauce, carrots, sweet potatoes.
• Bicarbonate of soda — all baking soda (not baking powder).
• Baby carrots.
• Cocoa — any domestically produced, including Hershey’s (except special dark).
• Coconut oil — Spectrum organic virgin/crude (with plain OU) and secret virgin unrefined (Star-K).
• Dairy — acceptable only with the OUP mark are Axelrod plain nonfat yogurt; Breakstone sour cream, salted butter, unsalted butter, whipped butter and cottage cheese; Crowley heavy, light and whipped cream; Dannon coffee, plain, plain low-fat, plain nonfat and vanilla yogurt; Friendship cottage cheese and cottage cheese with pineapple (regular and nonfat); Kroger cream cheese; Publix half and half, heavy cream, and whipping cream; and Temptee cottage cheese.
• Eggs — preferably purchased before Pesach.
• Fish — any raw with supervision; smoked fish needs kosher-for-Passover certification.
• Frozen fish — all may be used if washed, although some avoid Alas­kan wild salmon or other frozen fish that have been glazed.
• Flax seed — check before Pesach for extraneous matter.
• Frozen fruit — all frozen (some authorities require additional checking of berries for infestation), whether whole, sliced or balled, as long as unsweetened, additive-free, without added syrup, citric acid, ascorbic acid or vitamin C.
• Hemp — check before Pesach for extraneous matter.
• Ice — all plain-water bagged ice.
• Juice — 100 percent pure frozen orange or white grapefruit juice from concentrate with no sweeteners, addi­tives or preservatives; Tropicana bearing OKP; and Kroger orange juice without calcium, bearing plant No. 13-250, the letters “AKC-P” on the inkjet of the container, and an expira­tion date of April 14 to May 15.
• Lemon and lime juice — ReaLemon and ReaLime.
• Meats — all kosher raw meat and poultry, except for deli, cooked products and turkey burgers.
• Milk — Kosher-for-Passover milk is preferable, but any milk purchased before Passover, including Lactaid, may be used during the holiday; Kroger unflavored milk (whole, 2 percent, 1 percent or skim) bearing plant No. 13-250, the letters “AKC-P” on the inkjet of the container, and an expiration date of April 4 to 29 is kosher for Passover.
• Nuts — raw, whole, pieces or meal; almonds, filberts, pine nuts and walnuts (even if bleached) without preservatives such as BHT or BHA; no peanuts or midget pecan pieces; pecan pieces need a KFP; whole and half pecans are acceptable
• Extra-virgin olive oil — No special Pesach hechsher, although some authorities require a year-round hechsh­er.
• Raisins — Publix, Dole and Trader Joe’s.
• Salt — noniodized without other additives (sodium silicate is fine).
• Seltzer — any plain, unflavored.
• Soda — Coke and Diet Coke with OU-P stamped on bottle top and different cap color; Dr. Brown with KFP.
• Spices — whole, unground, except mustard; Ground spices need KFP.
• Sugar — pure granulated cane without dextrose; confectioners, brown and vanilla sugars need KFP.
• Tea bags, unflavored, decaffeinated — Lipton; Many Bigelow herbal teas have Kof-KP.
• Tea bags, unflavored, caffeinated — Lipton and Tetley.
• Tea, instant, unflavored, caffeinated — Nestea.
• Vegetables (fresh) — asparagus, avocado, beet, bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage (red or green), carrot, cauliflower, celeriac (celery root), celery, chicory, chive, collard, cucumber, dill, eggplant, endive, escarole, garlic (depending on custom), green onion, horseradish (raw), kohlrabi, leek, lettuce (all types), mint leaf, mushroom, okra, onion, potato, parsley, parsley root, pumpkin, radish (all types), ru­tabaga, scallion, spinach, squash, tomatillo, tomato, turnip, watercress, whole pepper, yam and zucchini.
• Vegetables (frozen) — require Pesach supervision.
• Water — any unflavored spring or distilled water, even with electrolytes, fluoride or minerals.
• Wax paper — Publix and Reynolds.

Perhaps most important: Pesach starts Friday, April 3, at 7:42 p.m. and ends Saturday, April 11, at 8:44 p.m. Chag sameach.