Q. Good afternoon Rabbi. I saw this (see attached picture) in the grocery store and I was thinking, I could make Kosher cheeseburgers.
Is there any prohibition to do this? (Attached is an image of a package of Beyond Burger, containing plant - based burgers produced by Beyond Meat).
A. Before considering the use of this vegetable based meat substitute with cheese, one must firstly ascertain that it is a kosher-pareve certified product.
On question 1223 regarding kosher cultured meat, that the Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a considers pareve, and why is there no prohibition of ma’aris ayin? (wrong appearances), we wrote:
"Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit”a opinion is that indeed there is a valid concern for ma’aras ayin.
However, once this meat has been properly marked and advertised as being “cultured and therefore pareve,” there is no more reason to prohibit it, than there is in the case of kosher pareve milk or soya vegetarian sausages." (Or kosher margarine or pepperoni pizza).
The Rov mentioned that although the above is permitted in principle, one should put effort on achieving kedusha and holiness, by abstaining from unnecessary and peculiar eating pleasures.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
Important Numbers
