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1time Airlines’ catering manager Natercia Nell and UOS executive director Darren Sevitz have wasted no time in resolving the issue of the kashrut status of the “kosher cheese platter” offered on all 1time flights.
After the issuing of a kosher alert on Wednesday, things moved very swiftly. And despite all the frenetic activity, the kosher cheese platters may have been kosher the whole time. They certainly are now, Darren assures us.
By Wednesday evening, 1time’s supplier, Fairview Cheese, thought they had solved the problem. They hadn’t.
FAIRVIEW TO 1TIME: “My apologies for only e-mailing now… I can assure you that the Mini Cheeseboard supplied by Fairview is Kosher. We had a problem with the Cheddar in the platter, but this has been resolved and the Cheddar is now being supplied by DairyBelle and is definitely kosher. This Kosher stock was delivered to our premises on Monday and is being used for the orders going out tomorrow for 1Time. Our quality control manager is not here today, but I will try and get hold of the certificate and forward to you. My apologies for any inconvenience caused.”
On Tuesday morning the DairyBelle certificates were duly e-mailed. Sorted, thought DairyBelle, Fairview and 1time.
Er, actually… not!
DARREN TO NATERCIA - Thursday late morning: “The confusion was over Fairview Havarti cheese and not the yellow cheese from DairyBelle. Fairview had stopped making it and it was removed from their kosher certificate by the Cape Town Kashrut Department. So when Havarti appeared in the platter, they were told it’s a non-kosher Havarti bought from elsewhere. Rabbi Maizels of the Cape Kashrut Department has spoken to Fairview this morning who say it was their own brand, but they only made a small quantity [OF KOSHER PRODUCT -Ed]. However, since it had been removed from the kosher certificate (at Fairview’s request), it was assumed to be un-kosher.
“Rabbi Maizels is happy to work with Fairview to ensure that everything they pack in their “kosher platter” is in fact kosher and certified, bearing the BD logo, which the consumer looks out for.”
And that, as they say in the classics, was that!
MyShtetl wishes to commend:
• The kashrut departments in Cape Town and Joburg for acting so quickly and issuing a precautionary announcement and all the speedy and efficient subsequent follow-up;
• The folks at 1time – especially catering manager Natercia Nell, for taking the needs of their kosher passengers so seriously; and
• The guys Fairview Cheese - for trying (even though the left hand somehow lost the right hand and they were fixing the wrong problem). Again, if not for the diligence of the kashrut authorities the wrong problem would have been fixed.
Beth Dins worldwide have a thankless job. They can be compared to municipalities – everyone, everywhere, loves to complain about their Council. It’s pretty much the same for Beth Dins. But, once again, SA kosher consumers get confirmation that they are in good hands.
FOOTNOTE: Darren says that Rabbi Maizels of the Cape kashrut department is satisfied that the Fairview Havarti on the cheese platter is kosher. We reckon that should be good enough for everyone until it carries a Beth Din Hechsher.
... and it's a good cheese
... and it's a good cheese platter, too! (I must have had at least 3 of them in the last month ...) - on the one hand you want to "nosh" something on a 2-hour flight, and on the other hand you don't want to go "overboard", so the cheese platter is just right. Funny, I never even questioned the kashrut of Fairview - I suppose I'm just not careful enough, I just assumed that if its cheese, and its Fairview, its OK ...
By the way, 1-Time have been running a special on a new hot chocolate which tops off your cheese platter very nicely - especially on those darn "midnight flights", when your energy levels are really down. Its not the best, but its not bad either.
And finally, while we're on the subject of 1-Time, a tip for regular commuters: every model of airplane in the world has a "best seat" and a "worst seat": 1-Time's fleet presently consist of MD 80's. They have 34 rows, and in my opinion the "best seat" is 33A: You have no view at all (so what's to see? we all know what's out there!), you have massive legroom with a bulkhead in front of you, lots of room to perch your laptop, eat your Fairbview cheese platter and slurp your hot chocolate, and virtually no-one to bug you. Its like being in your own private cabin.
Just so you know: I don't work for 1-Time!
Lion613
Afterthougt: there is a
Afterthougt: there is a website which is dedicated to finding you the best seat on any airplane in the world: if you obsess about these things (I'm afraid I do), and you don't already know this, then go to http://www.seatguru.com/ to get an early warning on the basics for your flight, before you check in.
I've had some weird experiences with seating and obnoxious cabin company - from a drunk tennis champion who spilled 2 bottles of wine, one over me and one over herself - to a mid-western bible-punching preacher who, when I told him I was a Jew, asked if I also wore "one of those little hats" (I keep one in my pocket, my son calls me a fold-away Jew) - to an American expert in the mass-manufacture of potato chips, who spent about 2 hours telling me how to fry the perfect chip.
You have a choice with people like this: you wait for your own personal endurance cut-out to kick in (its different for everyone: I have a tolerance of about 3 hours, some people only have 5 mins), and at that point you kill the person, or you move, or you take a sleeping tablet. I've never been in favour of sleeping tablets, but they're preferable to murder, and i generally don't move about on aircraft (I'm worried that I might upset the balance of the plane) so I use them on long flights.
Lion613