Plenty of kosher for Passover food available, OU certification agency says

'Despite the long lines and panic shopping taking place at grocery stores around the country, there is an abundance of kosher food available for the upcoming holiday.'

Packages of Passover Matzos sit in the window of a store on the lower east side of New York  (photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
Packages of Passover Matzos sit in the window of a store on the lower east side of New York
(photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

(JTA) — The supply chain for kosher for Passover food has not been disrupted by the coronavirus crisis, the Orthodox Union kosher certification agency said.

“Despite the long lines and panic shopping taking place at grocery stores around the country, there is an abundance of kosher food available for the upcoming holiday,” both in the United States and overseas, the OU said in a statement issued Monday.

“Kosher for Passover food products were produced at the end of the 2019 calendar year and shipped shortly thereafter,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the agency’s Kosher Division. “As a result, there will not be any problem accessing kosher for Passover products.”

“Additionally, food manufacturers are continuing to produce food during this time and we have been assured by our clients – including Manischewitz, Empire, Kedem and others – that there is plenty available and that there is no issue with food production for Passover.”