Note: Except during shmitah, buying Israeli produce is a great way to support the farmers of Israel.
BELL PEPPERS FROM ISRAEL (red, yellow and orange) are now being sold at local stores (Meijer, Kroger, etc.) and require taking of Terumos and Maaseros. They include Sunset brand, Gilad, Arava, Field & Farm, Mor and other brands of colored peppers. Consumers should carefully check the fine print on the package, or the sticker on individual peppers sold loose, for the country of origin. The same brand may have some peppers from Israel and some from other locations, so each package or pepper should be checked.
One should always be careful when buying produce to check the sticker, bag label or original case for the country of origin. Some additional examples of Israeli produce commonly found in the U.S. include tomatoes, carrots, citrus fruit (oranges, grapefruit, mandarins, clementines and pomelos), persimmons (“Sharon Fruit”), mangos, dates, dill and parsley.
One Stop Kosher Food Market’s produce department is monitored by the COR, and produce sold there does not have this issue.
Miriam Rivkin says
When warning people about this, you should note that except during shmitah, buying Israeli produce is a great way to support the farmers of ey. All it entails is taking off a tiny piece and saying a simple verse to be mekayem another mitzvah of trauma a’s clearly outlined in the artscroll siddur.
admin says
Excellent suggestion! I will update the post.