A new website was launched by Lakewood resident Raphael Lasry to help consumers with kashrus at Starbucks shops across the country.
The new website, KosherStarbucks.com, went live tonight.
Raphael Lasry has been working closely with Starbucks Corporate, Lakewood Kashrus Organization (LKO), and the STAR-K of Baltimore to help bring the latest kashrus information for all Starbucks products. Together with his team of developers at 1on1 Development in Lakewood, they have developed the new site and hope to release mobiles apps in the near future.
“We will be updating the information and adding new products constantly while working closely with LKO & STAR-K” says Lasry.
From this website it seems like there’s no difference between a store and a kiosk. I believe many are under the impression that is a huge difference between regular store and a kiosk. can you please clarify?
What about Chalav Yisrael?
Who is LKO who is certifying?
According to some there is a difference between a store and a kiosk. In many stores, they serve treif meat and therefore there may be concerns with the equipment rinse process. Star-K has been working on changing the rinse process and is currently testing the new practices in several stores. See which stores here: http://www.star-k.org/articles/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Starbucks_KosherFriendlyStores.pdf
Any product that would be of concern to the Star-K is listed with a Red Star on the kosherstarbucks site and when you click the product you will see more information.
There are several stores that now serve Cholov Yisroel. You can ask the store to confirm.
LKO (Lakewood Kashrus Organization) is run by R’ Yosef Tesler of Lakewood under the guidance of Harav Yitzchak Abadi of Lakewood.
Are any of these products certified ad “chalav yisroel” ?
I’m sorry- I didn’t notice a comment above mentions who LKO is. I only read the post- which is really where that info should be.
If there’s no mashgiach how does it help if the milk is “chalav yisroel ” -once the bottle is opened it’s the same issue as any other non-supervised milk.
The site is misleading in my opinion. If you click on certain items, it says as follows: According to STAR-K: This drink is permissible under one of the following conditions: *
According to STAR-K: This drink is permissible under one of the following conditions: * The store does not serve meat or cheese items; OR * It is one of the stores that has implemented “kosher-friendly” equipment rinse practices to avoid issues with listed beverages; OR * When one is traveling*. According to Star-K policy, traveling creates a sha’as hadchak (i.e., no other viable option is readily available) during which one need not be concerned with the restrictions on the beverages listed below. Traveling means when you are away from your hometown. You do not need to be driving on the highway to fit into the category of traveling.
The problem with this is that people may not realize to click on the item and once they see it has a certifying symbol near it they will think it’s kosher. The site should be reorganized with better categories.