Why Does the OU Not Certify Dairy Bread?
The Talmud (Pesachim 36a) relates that one may not bake milchig or fleishig bread. Since bread is generally consumed at every meal, one might forget that the bread contains milk and eat it at a fleishig meal (or vice versa). For this reason, Chazal ruled that milchig or fleishig bread is non-kosher and may not be eaten, even alone.
However, the Talmud offers one exception: One may bake milchig or fleishig bread if it is made “ke’ein tura.” Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 97:1) offers two explanations of “ke’ein tura”:
- Like the eye of an ox, i.e., a small amount. One may bake and consume a small amount of dairy or meat bread because it is assumed that the individual eating the bread will remember the meat or dairy status without difficulty. Rama (Yoreh De’ah 97:1) writes that the volume that one will eat in a single day is considered a small amount.
- In the shape of an ox, i.e., a unique shape. By baking the bread in a unique manner, the shape of the bread will serve as a visible reminder that the bread is not pareve.
English muffins will be discussed in tomorrow’s Halacha Yomis.
The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.