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Can one (who is not strict about cholov Israel) eat Dunkin' Donuts without a kosher certificate?

Isaac Moses
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gabriel
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  • Why do you think you could? They're (a) cooked and (b) at least sometimes cooked in facilities that also cook meat. (Some Dunkin Donuts serve breakfast sandwiches with sausage or bacon.) – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '13 at 01:27
  • @Monica - Aren't donuts cooked in a special doughnut machine? – Adam Mosheh Jun 28 '13 at 02:38
  • @AdamMosheh some probably, but I don't know if they all are. And then, at least sometimes, they're put on trays or baking sheets to cool and/or be transported to the sales area. Who knows what else those trays have been used for? And if, say, a spatula is used to translate the oven-hot doughnuts to the trays, was that spatula used for the sausage-burgers? And maybe we need to be concerned with how all this equipment is cleaned (e.g. what does it share a dishwasher with?). – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '13 at 02:52
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    If I may speculate as to the ops intention, I've heard rumors that all Dunkin donuts in NYC are produced under Rabbi Teitz's hashgacha in Elizabeth NJ and distributed around the area, so they are all kosher. – Double AA Jun 28 '13 at 04:22
  • We have a kosher one in Pittsburgh, and as with any other kosher establishment it displays the relevant information. Do they not do that in NYC because "everybody knows"? – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '13 at 13:12
  • @MonicaCellio I strongly doubt it. I don't know if the above information is reliable, but I have heard it said, so perhaps that's what the OP is referring to. – Double AA Jun 28 '13 at 14:18
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    @DoubleAA and gabriel -- if that's the motivation it should definitely be added to the question. Right now, to me, the question seems weak, hence my "why would you think so?" comment. With a little motivation, like if people do treat this as a given in some places, this could be a very useful question. – Monica Cellio Jun 28 '13 at 14:21
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    gabriel, welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks very much for posting this question here, since I suspect it comes to many kosher-eating Americans' minds! (I know it has to mine.) I hope you'll look around and find other content here that's to your taste, perhaps including our 278 other questions about [tag:kosher]. Please consider registering your account, which will give you access to more of the site's features. – Isaac Moses Jun 28 '13 at 14:22
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    @MonicaCellio Not sure if this is part of gabriel's thinking, but one might think that since all DD use the same recipe and some are kosher, it's just a matter of which branches have paid for supervision, or something. I've certainly heard that argument about various chains. – Isaac Moses Jun 28 '13 at 14:23
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    One more thing, gabriel, that I forgot to include in the welcome message: Please treat anything you learned here as if it came from a bunch of your friends. To determine what to do practically in your situation, I recommend consulting your rabbi. – Isaac Moses Jun 28 '13 at 14:52
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    A quick search on the Shamash.org kosher restaurant website found that most Dunkin Donuts are chalav stam (although the dairy ingredient is powdered milk). I found one city where the donuts are claimed to be parve. It is not clear to me whether franchise owners have discretion as to ingredients. While one might be able to claim that after the fact eating a DD wasn't so bad for your soul, the possibility of cross-contamination with non-kosher items via cleaning equipment used to clean donut-making and non-donut appliances, I think makes it impossible to permit eating them l'hatchilah. – Bruce James Jul 01 '13 at 21:31
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    @DoubleAA I live in Rabbi Teitz's community, and a family member specifically asked him whether this is true. He answered like IsaacMoses did, about there being two separate lines, therefore unless the specific store is certified, kosher status is not guaranteed. – Salmononius2 Aug 14 '15 at 15:29

2 Answers2

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About ten years ago, I learned the following, specifically about Dunkin Donuts (DD), from Rabbi Gershon Segal, a local rabbi who does local supervision, including of local DD branches, on behalf of local and national kashrut agencies. This is from my memory of what he said verbally back then, so contemporary reality in various locations may vary. However, I think this information is sufficient to indicate that you can't just assume that all DD are kosher without reliable inside information.

No, DD in outlets that are not under kosher supervision are not OK to eat. One issue is the provenance of the shortening. All of the branches use the same recipe to make the donuts, with all the same ingredients. However, you can have the same ingredient come in kosher and non-kosher versions.

In the region that Rabbi Segal works in, all DD branches get their shortening, in packages produced specifically for DD, from a certain factory. That factory produces shortening on two different production lines, one of which is dedicated to shortening, and the other of which is shared between shortening and lard. Shortening produced on the former line is certified kosher, while shortening produced on the latter line is halachically considered to contain pork residue and is therefore not kosher. The factory thus produces two versions of its shortening packages, with the only difference being that one bears a notice of kosher supervision, while the other doesn't. One of the things that kosher-certified DD outlets do differently from non-certified outlets is that they [certifiably] only use the kosher shortening. So, there is a real chance that the donuts in the other branches are actually not kosher, even though they are made with the same recipe.

Isaac Moses
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    A reputable Kashruth agency gives certification to a shortening produced in the same factory as lard? Even with separate equipment on different sides of the factory, that seems a bit of a risky proposition to me. – Seth J Jun 28 '13 at 16:51
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    @SethJ, I don't remember the precise details of that point. The two lines might actually have been in separate buildings. – Isaac Moses Jun 28 '13 at 17:04
  • What about non-donut items sold at DD, such as coffee beverages or the Coolatta? – Adam Mosheh Jul 03 '13 at 01:21
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    @AdamMosheh, I don't know anything specific about them, but I think an important lesson from this story is that with processed products, in general, there can be more kashrut complications involved in the ingredients than the casual observer would imagine. – Isaac Moses Jul 03 '13 at 02:46
  • @IsaacMoses - I hear. – Adam Mosheh Jul 17 '13 at 15:29
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    If you follow R. Yitzhak Abadi (who holsd a goy can mevatel lechathila if not entended specifically for a Jew), would all dunkin doughnuts be okay? – Yishaq May 07 '14 at 04:57
  • @Yishaq, you'd have to ask someone expert in both R' Abadi's position and Dunkin Donuts' production practices. I've described one issue with DD that I've heard of at one time, but that doesn't necessarily imply that there weren't other issues then or that there aren't other issues now. – Isaac Moses May 12 '14 at 17:12
  • What region was this? (if you can say) – Double AA May 13 '14 at 15:05
  • @DoubleAA, I've already revealed the identity of the rabbi I'm paraphrasing and linked to his pulpit. It was in the Boston area. The takeaway point, however, is that wherever and whenever you are, you shouldn't make assumptions about processed foods unless you know a great deal about their processing. – Isaac Moses May 13 '14 at 15:12
  • @Yishaq, as M. Shapiro explains, R. Abadi is simply applying the accepted halacha that you can consume a mixture of kosher stuff with prohibited stuff nullified in it (even intentionally) -- ביטול איסור לכתחילה - ביטול האיסור נעשתה על ידי גוי עבור גויים, התערובת מותרת גם ליהודים. (see Kitzur Sh"A Taarovet 8:4, also Nodeh B'Yehuda YD #56). So on that count, it would certainly be kosher (See ShA YD 95:4. – AmitaiB Feb 17 '19 at 14:59
  • ... The Rama there explains that a knife generally used for cutting kosher fish that occasionally cuts treif sea creatures is fine [as a group, when the knife is not concretely in front of you, etc. etc.]). Of course, the machmirim יש על מי לסמוך, as acc. to the Rashba's minority opinion, that kind mixture is אסור. – AmitaiB Feb 17 '19 at 14:59
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Why would you assume it's acceptable? Most Dunkin Donuts chains have sausage items that could very well have been produced on similar equipment.

Shalom
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    This answer could be improved without the judging tone and with some sort of evidence to support the claim. Not saying you're wrong, but it is a pretty straightforward question, and I don't see why there's a need to jump on the OP. – Seth J Jun 28 '13 at 02:10
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    See my comment on the question – Double AA Jun 28 '13 at 05:47
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    Why would sausage be produced on the same equipment as donuts? Have you ever seen donuts baking? The equipment is not suitable for sausage grilling! – Desert Star May 03 '16 at 21:19