Originally Posted by
badatz
Sorry to say but I think that you are also a little confused on a few points.
Firstly you have interchanged the terms GLATT with MEHADRIN a few times.
Simply because that is the common usage nowadays. I do know the difference, but there really is no point in splitting hairs on this forum.
Chickens cannot be Glatt. They can be Mehadrin, when they are specially checked at the, TZOMET HAGIDIM which is part of the leg. This is what adds the cost to chicken.
That is not the only difference. Furthermore, the tsomet hagidim test is not always required. It is a problem in intensively reared chickens, very common in Israel, but almost non-existent in (for example) the UK, where the animal welfare legislation is stronger.
Kitchen equipment and preparation cannot make food Glatt. I am not sure I follow your comments about the costs involved in upgrading the equipment to make the Kitchen "more Glatt".
Call it 'mehadrin' if you wish, but I am referring to the costs involved in upgrading the kitchens to a standard which would be acceptible to the OU or the major other European kashrut authorities (as the London Beth Din). I do not wish to go into details here, but I rely on expert unbiased information which covers physical conditions and operating procedures.
You might be refering to the need to check all the leafy vegetable for bug infestation. Regular Kosher usually gives it a salt water or vinegar bath in a large washing machine type contraption, while Mehadrin will only use leafy vegetables which were specially grown and cared for to prevent infestation. This is what raises the costs there.
I was not refering to this, but the Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires all local rabbinates to use only 'gush katif' style bug-free produce. I am not sure what the position of the Tamam supervision authorities is with respect to this.
Then there is the issue of meals from overseas. All regular Kosher meals made in New York are from Borenstien's with the OU certification. All meats from the OU are Glatt by default and I am pretty sure "Gush Katif" type vegetables. The same may be from London.
You are correct in terms of New York. I believe that all the food from Hong Kong is also 'mehadrin'/'glatt' or whatever you wish to call them. There is no longer any food produced for EL AL in London.