QUINOA UPDATE 2023
The following product is approved for Passover use.
Natural Earth Products
Quinoa, when bearing STAR-K Passover symbol
There have been infestation issues in many brands of quinoa. We recommend quinoa be checked prior to use, see www.checkforinsects.com for instructions.
What is Quinoa?
Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa) is a species of seeds of the Chenopodium or “goosefoot” family, and is botanically related to spinach. It was first brought to the United States from South America in the 1980s. Quinoa has been cultivated in the Andes Mountains for thousands of years, growing three to six feet tall despite high altitudes, intense heat, freezing temperatures, and as little as four inches of annual rainfall. Peru and Bolivia maintain seed banks with 1,800 types of quinoa.
Quinoa is Kosher l’Pesach and is not related to the five types of chometz grains, millet or rice.
If It’s Not Kitniyos, Why Does Quinoa Need Passover Certification?
We have found that quinoa can, at times, be either grown near barley, or rotated with a barley crop especially in Peru. Furthermore, barley on occasion is used to cover quinoa during drying, and the bags used to transport the quinoa may have previously contained flour of chometz.
STAR-K periodically sends a mashgiach to quinoa fields and production sites in Bolivia to make sure there is no issue of quinoa intermingling with barley, thereby assuring it can properly be certified for Passover. Therefore, quinoa should only be used with reliable Kosher for Passover certification or agency approval.
Please click here for a map and photographs of quinoa production and here for an informative webinar filmed in 2013.
For more information about quinoa on Pesach, please see this article on the topic.
Quinoa is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet, cooked like rice, gluten-free, and loaded with vitamins and minerals. Even NASA is considering quinoa for long-duration planetary space flights. Quinoa has become increasingly popular in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Japan, where the crop is not typically grown, increasing crop value.
