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Why do certain brands of aluminum foil have a hechsher?
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Rabbi Eli Gersten, OU Kosher recorder of psak and policy, breaks down the answer. Got kashrut questions? Drop them in the comments!
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Does aluminum foil or different paper products,
do they need an OU? I'll divide this question
into two parts. One is, should you buy it with
the OU? And one is, if I didn't use the OU,
can I still use the food? In terms of why a person
should get the OU, aluminum foil is made with
oils. There are lubricants that are added to the
aluminum. When they initially make the aluminum,
they make it into a very fine thin roll. There
are lubricants added. Often times these are
vegetable oils. Therefore, it is appropriate to
have a hashgacha on it. If you bought an aluminum
foil without a hashgacha, so there are actually
Teshuvos written about this topic, and most poskim
are lenient for various reasons. Aluminum foil
now, it's been more than 24 hours obviously since
it's been made. Therefore, we assume that the oils
become what we call ta'am lifgam. They give an off
taste, they don't improve it anymore, and
therefore, if a person did use aluminum foil that
didn't have a hasgacha, the food is acceptable but
it is best because there are vegetable oils used
to buy one that has hashka. Similarly with paper.
Paper in general is fine, but there are sometimes
release agents. Let's say on a parchment paper
could have different ingredients that are added
like a coating in them. Things like stearic acid
could be very kosher sensitive, and therefore,
in the first instance, it is best to buy one that
has a kosher certification. If you used one used
one that did not, there's reason you could be
lenient to assume that either the ingredients
were not problematic or the taste will not
affect it after it's been more than 24 hours.