May One Who Only Eats Yoshon Purchase Winter-Wheat Flour Any Time of the Year?

White flour often contains enrichments which are added to flour to make up for the nutrients that were lost during the milling. The nutrients are not added directly into the flour, but are first mixed into a starch carrier to ensure that they will properly disperse. This carrier can be wheat starch made from spring wheat (potentially chodosh). In addition sacks of winter wheat may have traces of spring wheat because both varieties may be milled on common equipment

Although in both of these situations only a trace amount of spring wheat would be present in the winter-wheat flour, even a small amount can pose a problem with regard to chodosh. The regular rules of bitul (nullification) may not apply to chodosh because chodosh is a davar she’yeish lo matirin (a prohibited item that eventually will become permitted). Chodosh flour becomes permitted as yoshon flour on Pesach, and it is considered davar sheyesh lo matirin according to some poskim.

Other poskim hold that davar she’yeish lo matirin does not apply in this case, since flour may be chametz and one may not keep flour until Pesach. Because this is a dispute among poskim, even some who are strict regarding yoshon are lenient provided the chodosh is less than one part in sixty (the threshold of bitul). When the OU certifies a product as Yoshon, it is certified according to the stricter standard, requiring that there is no trace of chodosh.

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.