I just bought a product certified as pareve by a reliable certifying agency, but the product bears a statement that it was made on equipment also used to produce dairy items. Should I be worried?
A. Probably not. The companies are afraid of being sued due to allergic reactions, which can sometimes be caused by very minute trace-amounts of allergens. These trace amounts may result from airborne particles or microscopic residues (with no halachic significance) in thoroughly cleaned production lines. Often, the trace amounts of dairy may be 3 or 4 parts per million, which chas v’sholom could trigger an allergic reaction, but is batul, nullified from the Halachic standpoint. Thus, the company will print the warning label regardless of whether the line is cleaned according to the most stringent of industry standards or kashered properly according to halacha. Sometimes the allergen warnings simply speak of dairy items made in the same facility, i.e. not even necessarily on the same equipment or even in close proximity to the product with the warning label. If the ingredient panel lists a dairy ingredient such as whey, while the hechsher indicates that the item is pareve, then somethi
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