BELL PEPPERS FROM ISRAEL (red, yellow and orange) are now being sold at many local stores (Meijer, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Holiday Market, etc.) and require taking of Terumos and Maaseros. They include Sunset brand, Gilad, Arava, Field & Farm, Mor, NatureFresh Farms, Pero Family Farms, Mucci Farms, Glad and other brands of colored peppers, both regular and organic. Consumers should carefully check the fine print on the package, or the sticker on individual peppers sold loose, for the country of origin. The same brand may have some peppers from Israel and some from other countries, all in the same produce bin, so each package or pepper should be checked. Details of the tithing procedure can be found (courtesy of cRc Chicago) at http://kshr.us/cRcMaaser

One should always be careful when buying produce to check the sticker, bag label or original case for the country of origin. Some additional examples of Israeli produce commonly found in the U.S. include tomatoes, carrots, citrus fruit (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, mandarins, clementines and pomelos), persimmons (“Sharon Fruit”), mangos, dates, dill and parsley.

GENERAL MILLS new PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BLASTED SHREDS shredded wheat cereal is not Kosher approved and does not bear an OU. (Cinnamon Toast Crunch Blasted Shreds, a discontinued variety, is also not approved.)