Birds Eye Broccoli

Ingredients: Broccoli

Has a Triangle K hechsher.

Can you provide a link to this product online? I can’t read what the package says.

only ingredient is broccoli

No good. These have a bug issue.

There is a bug issue even with the Triangle K hechsher?

Yes

So if i open this up and look at the broccoli with my naked eye and see no bugs, it’s still no good?

Correct. Still no good. One can’t possibly check broccoli thoroughly.

Is there a position that the flash freezing that these undergo “vapourizes” any bugs similar to frozen strawberries making it permissible? I don’t recall the details but I recall that one of the major hashgachas a few years ago said that frozen berries were ok because of this.

Frozen strawberries are not automatically ok. Freezing doesn’t help.

So are you saying broccoli can never be checked correctly and must be entirely avoided?

Broccoli is native to Mediterranean basin. Has there been a case where talmudic or medieval hakhamim banned a fruit completely or any other vegetable?

(And I think it’s fair to assume with modern fumigation and breeding that we even have far less bugs than before.)

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Unless you can get bug free from companies like Bodek and Pardes that grow them in a specific manner inside greenhouses that ensure they remain bug free.

Your assumption has been proven wrong many many times. These vegetables are infested with bugs despite fumigation. And yes, of there are bugs we would not be permitted to eat a specific vegetable or fruit.

Fact is there are bugs in these vegetables. There is no denying it. And vegetables with bugs are prohibited for consumption.

There were no companies back then. I’m asking for thousands of years we’d look at vegetables and if there were bugs we’d remove it and eat it. If it was infecsted we’d throw it out. There was no clean water or soap.

What assumption ? Yes sometimes there are infestations , and if you see that you throw it out, but you are saying don’t eat a vegetable entirely. You’re saying you can’t even check. Is there rabbinic source for that. To not even bother checking because it’s impossible.

You wrote: “Is there rabbinic source for that. To not even bother checking because it’s impossible.”

Yes, its called Muchzak Betolayim. And Yes, its discussed in Shulchan Aruch. Ergo, They had vegetables that were impossible to be eaten.

Didn’t mean to start a whole debate with this question. I find this topic interesting though.

Bodek has only been around for 30 or so years. I am not aware of any earlier poskim who determined that vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, raspberries, etc were so infested that they are not able to be consumed. This leaves a few possibilties.

  1. Something in agriculture has changed to make infestations more common than they used to be.

or

  1. Poskim were not aware at how many bugs were in these vegetables.

Either way, if we know now that these vegetables are frequently infested we should take that seriously.

It is an important topic so I’m glad you are bringing it up.

Both may be true.

Additionally, the Rav once showed me in a sefer where it discussed the reason our fruit and vegetables are infested. I’ll ask the Rav for the source and post it here.

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In a post in another thread, Aaron Abadi said that Triangle K was a solid hashgacha that can be relied upon. As such, I would assume they are not giving out a hashgacha without a basis on this product. Would you happen to know the basis they are using for this product. They must have a reason that it can be certified.

Triangle K is a solid Hashgacha. But let’s not make assumptions. Why don’t you ask them and let us know what they say. We’re open to hearing their viewpoint. In the meantime we aren’t aware of a good way to check brocolli so we advise all to avoid.

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