Bimbo Bakeries USA, which owns many of the nationally distributed bread and bun brands in America, including Arnold’s, Oroweat, Thomas’, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and Entenmann’s, have recently made decisions to drop the world’s largest kosher symbol, the OU (Orthodox Union) certification, from many of its products. Maintaining kosher and non-kosher manufacturing lines, some Arnold’s breads and several of the other brands in Bimbo’s portfolio have carried the OU symbol for over three decades, creating a multi-generational level of customer loyalty. Arnold’s, in particular, is relied upon in markets where kosher-certified bread products are sparse.
Because bread is often paired with either meat or dairy foods, kosher consumers often prefer to purchase kosher-pareve breads, which do not contain either milk or meat products. And kosher-dairy hot dog buns, for example, are of little use in the kosher home, though they certainly exist. Arnold’s widely available kosher-pareve hot dog and hamburger buns were a much-appreciated innovation in kosher food that many remember, though today they are taken for granted. For some, the availability of kosher buns was a revelation on par with the sea change that began in kosher food when Nabisco’s Oreo cookies became OU-dairy in 1998.
“When I came to the OU over 30 years ago, Arnold’s was one of the first products I worked on,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the OU’s chief operating officer, who noted that kosher consumers who don’t live in the tri-state area have fewer, if any, pareve bread choices. In the Midwest, South and West Coasts, where fewer products are available generally with kosher certification, “people have been relying on the Arnold’s line of bread,” said Rabbi Elefant.
“This has been the bread of choice for kosher consumers all over the country,” said Rabbi Zvi Nussbaum, the primary voice behind the OU kosher hotline. “It’s a staple of many Jewish homes. This has hit kosher consumers like a ton of bricks,” he said.
Rabbi Nussbaum warned that consumers should check the packaging of their favorite bread before purchasing it, and not take for granted that the items are kosher. “Their eyes are not playing tricks on them,” he said, noting that consumers have correctly ascertained that the Arnold’s light whole wheat loaf, a very popular product, no longer carries the OU. “Please look at these products carefully, and don’t purchase it or return it to the store if you find a product without hashgacha,” Nussbaum warned.
According to koshertoday.com, many supermarkets specifically carry Arnold’s because of their kosher certification; the Freihofer’s OU pareve buns are a staple even on the East Coast where many other certified kosher/yoshon products are also available. The decision to drop the OU from such products could engender a backlash on par with the Stella D'Oro swiss fudge cookie designation from OU to OU-dairy in 2003 (which was reversed), or Trader Joe's decision to similarly move their semi-sweet chocolate chips to an OU-dairy designation (not yet reversed, but many live in hope), in 2012. Read more at JewishLinkNJ
