Yoshon Updates

Updated March 2, 2023

Yoshon season 2022-2023 has begun. Below you will find the STAR-K Yoshon Quick Reference Guide for many common products. 

The information in the Quick Reference Guide is based on a combination of direct company sources and by researching The Guide to Yoshon, which is now updated and published annually  by the family of Rabbi Yosef Herman zt”l.  Although the finalized Guide to Yoshon has yet to be published for this year, we have been able to use early drafts to update much of the information in our Quick Reference Guide.

As there will likely be changes to the Herman Family guide over the next few weeks, it is worthwhile to check back here weekly for updates to STAR-K’s Yoshon Quick Reference Guide. A link to the guide appears below.

In addition, every year we publish an up-to-date list of Baltimore establishments and the Yoshon and Pas Yisroel status of […]

Yoshon and Chodosh Something Old and Something New

The story is told about how in the mid 1970’s the proprietor of a kosher bakery in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood was asked if his products were Yoshon. Not realizing that this Hebrew word, which literally means ‘old’, actually refers to grain which had been planted before Passover, proudly, albeit naively, answered, ” I can assure you that everything in my bakery is 100 percent fresh.” Today, as we approach the millennium yoshon and chodosh have graduated and become household words which have rightfully taken their place among the more popular terms such as Glatt Kosher, Cholov Yisroel, and Pas Yisroel.