Kosher at Au Bon Pain

[Luckydog]

I know that the Au Bon pain stores in NYC are not certified kosher because of the food that is sold there, but anyone know about the pastries? I called the store and they said they are kosher, just the store is not.

Just curious if anyone has ever heard about anything being kosher at au Bon pain.

[kosherdoc]

Actually you should check the original boxes that the pastries come in. A lot of them have a hecsher, chof-k, etc.... The only problem is that they place them in an oven with non-kosher items. But if you can get them in the box then you should be ok. At least that is the case in the hospital that I work in.

[DeisCane]

The packaged jam is probably the only thing.

[Luckydog]

thank you

[GilaB]

And I see that you're doing the same search that I'm doing, because you got to the same (incorrect) Cha Cha answer that I did, and commented four minutes earlier :)

The OU supervises exactly two of their industrial products, the bagel flour and the strawberry jam. I can't find any listing of any other supervision on anything of theirs. Did you ask for specifics of the person with whom you spoke? My guess is that they were (incorrectly) assuming that because the pastries don't contain any pork, they're kosher.

[zsero]

I wouldn't even assume that. What are the odds that the pastries are not made with lard?

[GilaB]

I wouldn't assume that either, but I think that a minimum-wage cashier might make such an assumption, because it'd never occur to them.

[DeisCane]

Though it's just an academic exercise, I'd venture to guess that very few, if any, US food chains use lard for their shortening purposes.

[zsero]

Now that they're not allowed to use trans fats any more, what *do* they use?

[DeisCane]

I'm sure there's an industrial version of crisco.

[zsero]

Isn't that trans fat?

[barryg]

It has small enough amounts that they can say it's 0g per serving under FDA guidelines.

Also coconut oil can be used as a substitute but that's too expensive for most operations.

[DeisCane]

In 2007 or thereabout, Crisco switched all its products to (technically) trans-fat free.

[ferret]

Aside from the fact that lard is not the only ingredient that would call kashrus into question, there's next to no chance of any of their products containing lard. Mexican bakeries on the other hand probably only use lard, but that's another story.

[SoCal Mother]

The Bimbo (commercial) bakeries in Mexico (no jokes about the name, we've heard them all!) makes kosher products sold under the names Bimbo and Entenmann's. The bread is under the Star K and the pastries under the KMD.

[Prettypoodle]

We LOVE the name here as they are the sponsors of our FANTASTIC Pro Soccer team the Philadelphia Union. You see shirts with Bimbo on them asll over. FWIW it is pronounced BEEEEEM Bo.:) ANd no i will NOT wear a Bimbo shirt, though I have a Union t with the team logo on the front:)

[SoCal Mother]

Obviamente que se pronuncia Bimbo !!

PS You meant fútbol team, didn't you??

[Prettypoodle]

I ment the ONLY team that seems to know how to win in Philadelphia. (I am still upset with my Phillies...GO RANGERS!)

[SoCal Mother]

Fútbol is Spanish for soccer. I get corrected all the time...

[ferret]

I was referring to the Mexican mom-and pop bakeries, not the corporate overlords (and while Entenmann's is now part of Bimbo, it's hardly a Mexican baked good). For a culture with as rich a cuisine as Mexico has, their "pastries" tend to be sugar and lard-laden.

[SoCal Mother]

After a good Mexican meal, who wants dessert? (Well me, actually, because I really dislike Mexican food except for quesadillas...)

Besides they put chocolate in their chicken (mole) and spices in their candy, so the distinction between dinner and dessert is kinda blurry.