This is today;s update sent by Yoseph Herman.

UPDATE AS OF 9 SEPT 14

1) IMPORTANT CHANGE REGARDING MALT

Over the past several decades the Guide to Chodosh has stated that barley malt is Yoshon up to at least the manufacturing date of December 15. This was based on information gathered from many malt producers and is still the practice at some. Now at least one major producer of malt informed us that they will start using Chodosh barley to produce their malt by October 15! While products using this malt will not reach the consumers for some time, this is a warning to manufacturers of Yoshon products and mashgichim. Please note that the CHODOSH DATE RECOMMENDED BY THE GUIDE TO CHODOSH FOR MALT HAS CHANGED FROM DECEMBER 15 TO OCTOBER 15. This affects cereals and other items using malt. It also affects beer from barley malt (most beers are from barley malt.)

2. THE CHODOSH SEASON IS IN FULL SWING

By now all products using spring wheat, oats or barley must be checked to make sure that they are Yoshon. This includes freshly baked items from bakeries, pizza shops and bagel shops that should have hashgocho for Yoshon. It also includes packaged items. These should only be assumed to be Yoshon if there is Yoshon hashgocho on the package, or by confirming with dating codes that the item was manufactured before the cutoff date.

3. PUBLICATION DATE FOR THE GUIDE TO CHODOSH

We are still hoping to get the publication of the Guide completed by. Rosh Hashanah. We will send out a new email bulletin when the Guide becomes ready. Meanwhile, we recommend that you use last year's issue of the Guide for dating code information. For most products, adding one year to the dates and codes given should provide the correct code. To download last year's Guide, send email to chodosh@sefer.org.

4. DUPLICATION OF THE LAST CHODOSH BULLETIN

We duplicate below the bulletin we sent out on 12 Aug 14. This should still be valid. Note that for Cheerios cereals the oats will become Chodosh starting a packing date of Oct 20. Those types of Cheerios that have WHEAT GERM in the ingredients, may be Chodosh as of the packing date of Aug 18 (date on the box would be Aug 25 15.)
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CHODOSH BULLETIN 12 AUG 14

The latest report from the US Dep’t of Agriculture confirms that the harvest and spring wheat and barley have begun. That is allowing us to formulate the recommended Chodosh cutoff dates for the forthcoming season. These are given below. Note that dates given below for oats used in Quaker and General Mills (such as Cheerios) cereals may still change.

FRESHLY BAKED ITEMS USING SPRING WHEAT including breads, challahs, bagels, rolls, pizza and some cakes and cookies. May be Chodosh in the mid-West (such as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis) after a PURCHASE date of Aug 18. Elsewhere in the US, Aug 25.

PACKAGED FOODS FROM SPRING WHEAT not including noodles and pasta may be Chodosh starting a PACKING date of Aug 18, PURCHASE date of Sept 1.

NOODLES AND PASTA may be Chodosh starting a PACKING date of Aug 25, PURCHASE date of Sept 8.

BARLEY such as pearled barley may be Chodosh starting a PACKING date of Aug 18, PURCHASE date of Sept 1.

OATS in non-cereal applications, such as oats flour in cookies, may be Chodosh starting with a PACKING date of Aug 4, PURCHASE date of Aug 28. Oat meal and other oats products from Quaker may be Chodosh with a PACKING date of Aug 19, PURCHASE DATE OF Sept 3. Cheerios may be Chodosh starting a PACKING date of Sept 15, PURCHASE date of Oct 1. Cereals from most other manufacturers, the oats may be Chodosh with a PACKING date of Sept 1, PURCHASE DATE of Sept 15. Remember, the oats dates for Quaker and Cheerios will probably still be revised.

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Project Chodosh is an independent activity, not affiliated with any movement or organization. We thank the Jewish Internet Fund (JIF) for allowing us to use their E mail distribution services. The JIF provides free email and web hosting to Jewish education and outreach organizations. We also thank the sites moruda.com and sefer.org for allowing the public to use E mail to request copies from their facilities of the Guides to Chodosh.