Walk into many Sephardic homes during Passover and you’re likely to find next to the wine and matzah, bowls of rice pilaf, chumus, tehina and sweet corn gracing the holiday table. Visit the home of the Ashkenazic family next door and you’ll find tzimmus, potato kugel and maybe some knaidelach (matzo balls) in the chicken soup, but not a trace of kitniyot.
Along with all of the food restrictions concerning leavened products over Passover, Ashkenazic tradition mandates that kitniyot, loosely translated as legumes, must also be avoided, while Sephardim may consume them all year round.
However, even the Sephardic customs pertaining to the use of kitniyot vary. Some will use rice on Passover while others refrain; some will only use kitniyot after each grain has been inspected three times to ensure that no wheat or oats found their way into the batch, while others will just accept the rice as is. The kosher consumer should adhere to his family’s customs, and when in doubt, consult with his local rabbinic authority.
There is no hard and fast rule as to what is and isn’t considered kitniyot. In some Ashkenazic communities, peanuts are not regarded as kitniyot, while others strictly forbid them. A few communities won’t consume garlic on Passover, yet most will. Although not a legume, mustard is universally rejected by Ashkenazim on Passover. Cloves, which are definitely not in the legume category, are also not used by Ashkenazim on Passover. And there is a controversy as to whether guar gum is considered kitniyot or not.
Common Kitniyot Misconceptions
Kosher-savvy consumers know that one cannot rely on the ingredient statement to determine a product’s kosher status. This is very much the case in determining for Passover as well. Certain ingredients that are kitniyot derived cannot be assumed to be chametz-free.
The Vinegar Story
While most of the alcohol used in vinegar productions is derived from corn and can sometimes be verified as such, much of this alcohol does not qualify for Passover kitniyot use. In order to save money on taxes, there are companies that buy alcohol that is denatured (rendered toxic or otherwise undrinkable). This denaturant — ethyl acetate — is a compounded chemical that is made by reacting acetic acid with ethyl alcohol. While the acetic acid is usually made from petroleum, the ethyl alcohol can be derived from many sources. I have seen ethyl acetate made from petrochemical-derived acetic acid and wheat-derived alcohol (read chametz). The finished ethyl acetate cannot be labeled “natural,” due to the petroleum derived acetic acid used. Thus, there is ethyl acetate on the market labeled either synthetic or not natural that is being used to denature alcohol and converted into vinegar. This grade of denatured alcohol is known in federal law as SDA 29, which the federal government allows for vinegar use.
In addition, corn-based vinegar, often manufactured on shared equipment with malt or wheat-based vinegar, could contaminate the corn based product. Furthermore, there can be chametz-based cultures, bacteria, and nutrients used to convert alcohol into vinegar that could potentially render the finished product chametz.
Glucose/ Dextrose/Corn Syrup
Most US manufacturers of sugars, such as glucose, dextrose, fructose, maltose, etc., use corn as a starting material. The corn is milled, washed, and the starch (as a liquid slurry) is recovered and treated with various enzymes to convert the slurry to the desired sugar. There are specific enzymes that work on starch slurries to convert them into glucose, different ones to turn them into fructose, yet other ones to make maltose, etc. Each enzyme will act on the starch differently and give the final products their unique characteristics.
Some of these enzymes are made from kitniyot, while others are derived from chametz; beta amylase, which is used to make maltose, is usually a barley extract; glucose isomerase, used to make HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), is sometimes chametz-based and sometimes kitniyot. Corn syrups are widely used in a multitude of products including: ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressings, soft drinks, coffee whiteners, sweeteners, citric acid, vitamins, etc. Clearly, one cannot assume that corn syrups are without chametz concerns.
OU Chametz-Free
Concerned that another kosher designation would confuse kosher consumers, the OU has avoided granting Passover certification on retail kitniyot products. While not visible to the retail consumer, the OU does issue chametz-free certificates to industrial products (e.g., vegetable oils, corn starch, essential oils, pure fruit puree, fatty acids, salt, and numerous other ingredients), for the benefit of the Sephardic community. Committed to fully accommodating every kosher customer, the OU applies the same level of expertise and care into its chametz-free certification as it does to every OU-P certification — ensuring consumers, no matter what their family’s kitniyot custom, a one hundred percent OU Kosher holiday.