Does the OU on canned tuna and canned salmon mean that the products are Bishul Yisroel?
• ANSWER: There should be no question in anyone’s mind whether the OU’s approval on a product includes a protection that no one will transgress the Issur of Bishul Akum. After all, it is a Halacha in the Shulchan Oruch. Therefore, in good conscience, we can say that every product bearing an OU on the package that requires Bishul Yisroel is indeed Bishul Yisroel. At the same time, we state that foods that, according to Halacha, do not require Bishul Yisroel would probably not be Bishul Yisroel. There are two specific areas regarding tuna fish where some choose to interpret the Halacha in a stricter manner. 1) Hashgocho T’midis – A constant presence of a Mashgiach 2) Bishul Akum – Issur (prohibition) of food cooked by gentiles One of the basic Kosher concerns in the fishing industry is the fear that non-Kosher species caught in the same net will be packaged/canned together with the Kosher fish species. There are two types of fish processing. One is where the catching, processing and cann
