Has Anyone Found Bugs in Nori?
Zev is a friend of mine who works in Kashrus. We had the following IM exchange this morning:
(11:01:26 AM) zev: have you ever found any bugs or crustaceans in the nori sheets you check?
(11:01:57 AM) YM: yes, and they were tasty, too!
In short, neither he nor I have found any, while Israeli mashgichim say they have. We all get them from the Far East, so geography isn’t the answer.
If you’ve ever found Seahorse, bug or other sheretz in Nori, we’d like to know. If you can upload a photo, even better!
In the three volume Hebrew set on insects in food by Rav Vaye, on pages 234-235 of Volume 1, he shows a picture of crabs in seaweed, but I don’t know what type of seaweed it is.
I’m pretty sure that once one of the talmidim in my yeshiva in Jerusalem found a seahorse in some seaweed, but again I don’t know what type it was.
I haven’t found them in strawberries either.
My friend’s brother has a sushi business in Bet Shemesh. Several years ago they discovered bugs in the nori, and worked with the kashrus organizations first to pass along an alert and then to reestablish a “mehadrin” possibility for sushi establishments here. I think the OU was very helpful in the process also. If you want to speak with him you have my email.