Yoshon is a mitzvah that relates specifically to the five primary grains – wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats. If a food does not contain any of these grains, then it surely has no concerns of yoshon. Thus, pasta is made of wheat and it may have a concern of yoshon, but rice cakes are made without any of these grains and are never a yoshon issue.
The words yoshon and chodosh mean “old” and “new”, and in this context it means that the five primary grains cannot be eaten unless they were in existence on the first day of Chol HaMoed Pesach. If they had even started to grow (take root) by that day, they have been around for a “long” time and are “old/yoshon”, but if they were planted after that cutoff day, then they are new/chodosh and forbidden. The chodosh grains remain assur until the next Pesach comes, at which point they will become yoshon since they will be in existence on the first day of a Chol HaMoed Pesach. Once a grain or food is in existence for one Pesach, it is yoshon “forever”. Thus, a bottle of liquor which was aged for 3 years is clearly yoshon since it was in existence on the first day of Chol HaMoed Pesach, at least once.
As relates to yoshon, we can roughly divide the year (in the United States) into four time periods: [1] From Pesach until about Tisha B’av, all food is yoshon, because manufacturers are using grain that was planted well before Pesach. [2] Starting at approximately Tisha B’av, wheat planted after Pesach comes to market, and fresh-baked goods bought in bakeries may be chodosh. [3] After Rosh Hashanah there will also be a chodosh concern for oats, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, barley, and pasta. [4] From about Chanukah and on, the beer in the market may be chodosh. These four time periods are merely rough approximations, and those who want to eat only yoshon must use the “Guide to Chodosh” (to be discussed in future posts) to know finer details.
Although Shulchan Aruch and most Rishonim state that one must be careful to only eat yoshon, the majority of Shomer Shabbos Jews living in chutz la’aretz are not particular about this mitzvah. The Poskim suggest different justifications for this practice including that the mitzvah may only apply in Eretz Yisroel, it may only apply to grain grown on Jewish farms, or that a person may be allowed to assume that his food is actually yoshon (based on sfek sfekah). Each person should ask their personal Rav as to whether they should or should not be careful to only eat yoshon. [Mehadrin hashgachos from Eretz Yisroel will not certify products unless the ingredients are yoshon.] The cRc certifies food as kosher even if it is not known to be yoshon, but accommodates those who only want yoshon by providing information to help those consumers determine what they can or cannot eat.
In the Chicago area, Northshore, Emma’s, and Tel-Aviv bakeries are always yoshon, while the baked goods at Breadsmith and Jewel are potentially chodosh beginning in the late summer. Among caterers, the Midwest Conference Center is always yoshon, the food served by Starr Caterers and Segal Catering are usually yoshon, and others may or may not be yoshon.
cRc restaurants all have a display which shows details of the hashgachah, and one of the “screens” displays the yoshon status of the food served there. This is a wonderful resource for consumers, and it is the Mashgiach’s responsibility to ensure that the information stated there is accurate. The Mashgiach should also know the detailed answers as to which foods in the store (or caterer) are yoshon, so he can answer consumer questions about this topic.
C. Details of The Five Grains
As noted, the only items which can be chodosh (i.e., not yoshon) are those that contain one of the five primary grains. Of those, rye and spelt are always yoshon in the United States. This is because in this country, those grains are always planted before Pesach and harvested after Pesach, such that every grain harvested was “in existence” on the first day of Chol HaMoed Pesach. [Bear in mind, that “rye bread” commonly contains (also) contains wheat flour which might be chodosh.] Barley, also known as pearled barley, is commonly used in soup and cholent, and it may be chodosh beginning in the fall. Barley is also used in producing beer, and this may be chodosh starting in the middle of the winter. Barley is also used to create malt (a.k.a. malted barley, barley malt), and there is a question as to whether one must be concerned that it is chodosh; in practice, the cRc is lenient on this matter.
Oats are used in oatmeal, breakfast cereals, and baking, and it may be chodosh beginning in the fall. Oats are the only one of the five primary grains which are available as “gluten-free”. In recent years, gluten free oats have become more prevalent, and for example are used to produce all standard Cheerios, and therefore even foods sold as “gluten-free” must be checked to confirm that they do not pose a chodosh concern.
For purposes of our discussion, there are three types of wheat – winter wheat, spring wheat, and durum wheat. Winter wheat is used to create crackers, matzah and other crunchy foods. Winter wheat is planted before Pesach and harvested after Pesach, and it is always yoshon. Spring wheat is used for foods which are “fluffy” such as bread, bagels, and pizza, and it may be chodosh beginning in the fall (and even earlier in fresh bakeries). Pasta is made from durum wheat and it poses a chodosh concern beginning in the winter. [Bear in mind that wheat/flour can be found in some unexpected places such as licorice, soy sauce, and seasoned French fries.]
There is no need to be concerned for chodosh on aged whisky (it has always been in existence for at least one Pesach), foods with Mehadrin Israeli hechsherim (they will only certify yoshon items), rice & corn products (as yoshon only applies to the five primary grains), and vinegar (since in the United States it is assumed to be made from corn).
The Guide to Chodosh (available on demand by emailing chodosh@sefer.org) takes a three-step approach to help people determine which foods are yoshon. Firstly, a “cut-off date” is determined for each grain. That date is when the first chodosh wheat, barley, or oats are coming to market. Secondly, it provides guidance in reading the “date code” or “expiration date” on each food, so that the reader can determine exactly on which day the food was produced. If the item was produced before the cut-off date, it is yoshon, and if not then it might be chodosh. Lastly, the Guide is a central listing of items which are certified as yoshon.
Some manufacturers provide an “expiration date” for the food. In those cases, the Guide will use that date to determine when the food was manufactured. For example, if a box of Barilla lasagna expires on May 14, 2018 the Guide might say that this means the food was produced 20 months earlier on September 14, 2016. By comparing that to the cutoff date for durum wheat, one can determine if that particular box is yoshon. Other manufacturers will mark their products with one of 6 types of “production codes” which indicate when the food was made. The Guide teaches us how to decipher the “code”, so that we know whether the food was made before or after the cutoff date. For example, if the production code for a given food is 2426, the Guide might say that this indicates that the item was produced on the 242nd day (“242”) of 2016 (“6”) which is equivalent to August 30th, and then that date can be compared to the cutoff date for the grain used in that food. Thus, the Guide to Chodosh is the essential tool for people to know the food they are eating, or the food they are certifying, is yoshon.