Government Supervision of Cheese

Q. Does Rav Moshe Feinstein’s leniency of relying on government supervision of milk apply to cheese?

A. To answer this question, we must first take a step back and discuss the requirements for chalav Yisroel and explain Rav Moshe’s leniency. Chazal forbade milk sold by a nochri (chalav akum) unless a Yisroel was present at the milking to ensure that milk from a non-kosher species was not added. When there is proper supervision, milk is referred to as cholov Yisrael. Shulchan Aruch (YD 115:1) writes that it is not necessary to watch the cows being milked. It is sufficient for a mashgiach to stay outside the milking parlor, so long as he has the ability to enter at any time. The level of deterrence established by the mashgiach’s presence renders the milk chalav Yisroel. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igeros Moshe YD 1:47-49) ruled that milk produced in the U.S. by companies that are supervised by government inspectors are the equivalent of chalav Yisroel. Although no mashgiach is present on the farms, Rav Moshe maintains that government inspection and the consequences of getting caught with violations creates a level of deterrence similar to that of a mashgiach standing nearby. Rav Moshe refers to milk that relies on this leniency as “chalav ha-companies”. It is also known as chalav stam. (“Stam” means regular in the sense that the milk has no status. Albeit government-supervised milk is not cholov Yisrael, since no Jew was present, it is not cholov akum because there was a deterrent against adulteration.) Rav Moshe recommends using chalav Yisroel which was supervised by a mashgiach, but according to the letter of the law, Rav Moshe considers chalav stam acceptable.

Our question above is whether government regulations can also suffice for cheese production to the extent that the cheese will have the status of gevina stam and not gevinas akum. We will address this in the next Halacha Yomis.

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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.