Exclusive Q & A with Orthodox halachic authority Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Q: Can we can have full trust that there are no animal-based ingredients?
A: In the United States it is not worth it for a business owner to provide misleading information. If the restaurant does not serve meat, fish or seafood, there is no reason to assume that such ingredients were used in the preparation of the food.
Q: What if the dishes were previously used for non-kosher ingredients?
A: It is highly unlikely for a restaurant to have previously used dishes, and even if it did, as I explained in length in my article on Kashrut in the Modern Kitchen, the materials used for cookware, silverware, and surfaces are of very high quality and do not absorb any flavor.
Q: What if the owner is Jewish and the place is open on Shabbat?
A: The rabbis forbade food which was cooked on Shabbat and declared the dishes used to cook on Shabbat to be non-kosher. The prohibition of the food is not Halakah-based but a fine meant to deter people from doing it, and that Halakah is observed only if you know with certainty that the food was cooked on Shabbat.
Q: What about dipping dishes (tevilat kelim):
A: The practice of dipping dishes in a mikveh is rabbinic, and the poskim mention several cases in which one can be lenient and use the dishes without being dipped[1]. A guest can rely on this approach, and can even assume that the dishes were dipped.
Q: Who checks vegetables and grains for bugs?
A: The main concern regarding vegetables and grains is that they might be infested, but this concern applies only to what can be seen with the naked eye. The prohibition is only against a deliberate consumption of insects, and in most kitchens the regular method of preparation takes care of visible bugs.
Q: Does vinegar need to be kosher?
A: Vinegar was included in the original decree of Mishnaic sages against drinking pagan wine, because it was wine before it became vinegar. This only applied in antiquity because back then good wine would not be wasted, and only when the wine went bad it was used to make vinegar. Today it is very rare for wine to go bad in the wineries, and so vinegar is destined from the beginning of production to be vinegar and not drinking wine. This means that vinegar, including balsamic, does not need supervision.
Q: What about Bishul Akum?
A: The prohibition on Bishul Akum, or food prepared by non-Jews, was meant to prevent intermarriage, which is the result of extreme closeness. This decree only applies to one who prepares and serves food of his own accord because of his love to his Jewish friends. It therefore follows that food served at a restaurant does not fall under the rubric of Bishul akum.
Q: What countries does this apply in?
A: It applies in any developed country with strict regulations in the food industry.
Q: Does your synagogue accept non-hekshered food?
A: The synagogue only accepts certified caterers. The psak is for individuals who are interested in eating there.
Q: "Would this teshuva apply to packaged products as well that don't have hashgacha but are labeled as vegan?"
A: "It would apply to packaged products, as long as they come from a developed country with tight regulations."
Conclusion: One can eat at a vegan or vegetarian restaurant without supervision, if fish or seafood are not served there (in which case more attention is needed).
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[1] שו"ת יביע אומר חלק ז, יורה דעה, ט:א: ...וכן כתב המשנה ברורה בביאור הלכה (סי' שכג סעיף ז) ד"ה מותר, שמן התורה אין שום איסור להשתמש בכלים בלא טבילה, ורק חכמים אסרו להשתמש בהם עד שיטבילם
