QUESTION: Does Rav Moshe Feinstein’s leniency of relying on government supervision of milk (“chalav ha-companies” or “chalav stam”) apply to cheese? Is there such a thing as “gevina stam”?

ANSWER: To answer this question, we must first take a step back and discuss the requirements for chalav Yisroel. Chazal forbade drinking milk sold by a nochri (chalav akum) unless a Yisroel was present at the milking to ensure that no milk from a non-kosher species was added. This is known as the requirement of chalav Yisroel. Shulchan Aruch (YD 115:1) writes that it is not necessary to watch the cows being milked. It is enough for a mashgiach to sit outside the milking parlor, so long as he can enter at any time. This level of supervision is considered to provide sufficient deterrence to prevent the addition of non-kosher milk. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igeros Moshe YD 1:47-49) explains that milk produced in the U.S. by companies which are supervised by government inspectors also qualifies as chalav Yisroel. Although no mashgiach is present on the farms, Rav Moshe proves that government inspection and the consequences of getting caught create a level of deterrence equivalent to that of a mashgiach standing nearby. Rav Moshe refers to milk that relies on this leniency as “chalav ha-companies” and it is also known as chalav stam. Although he advises that it is better to purchase chalav Yisroel which was supervised by a mashgiach, he writes that according to the letter of the law, chalav stam is also acceptable. The question is whether government regulations can also be relied on to create gevinas Yisroel. (To be continued...)

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.