SC - Khushkananaj (was: Ideal vs. practical)

[Heitman]

At 11:56 AM 3/26/99 -0500, you wrote:
>
>FWIW, a Co-worker who is an orthodox Rabbi, maintains that If flour is
mixed with any liquid and left for longer than 13 minutes is 
>chumitz (?) Leavened, and anything made with it is not suitable for Pesach.


Having asked "the Kosher Question", I have learned a fair deal. 

In comparing Kosher laws and modern Foodservice Sanitation Regulations,
remarkable similarities exist.

Modern science has determined that the "safe time" for any food that might
potentially grow bacteria is four hours total. That means that the sum of
all time the food spends between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit can
be no more than four hours, regardless of refridgeration inbetween working
periods. Food that accumulates periods longer than that have allowed a
*single* bacteria to divide and multiply sufficient generations to poison
the food.  (paraphrased NIFI handbook)
 
Oddly, Orthodox kitchens/bakeries are also given a total shut down and
scrub every four hours. Why? To remove all the leavening agents. 

Seems that Yeast ( a natural occuring, airborne animal) could then be
considered a legitimate "food borne Illness".  Personally, I think in days
and regions that were less equiped than ours,(although *we* have determined
that yeast itself is a good thing) yeast can be, used as a sort of egg
timer against other bacterial growth. When the loaf has doubled in size
given no yeast additive, everything else out for that time has spoiled. 

So wine is spoiled grape juice, beer is spoiled grain, and leavened bread
is spoiled flour. An interesting way of looking at things. 

Franz

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