Craisins are a popular addition to salads, rice, granola, and the like today. They are also eaten by themselves as a snack as a well-liked alternative to raisins, so much so that they are known by the trademarked name, Craisins, borrowed from the American company Ocean Spray, which began to mass-produce them. It must be determined whether there is a shaila of bishul akum involved in their production, as will be explained.
Craisins are made from cranberries, which, due to their natural very sour flavor, are almost never eaten as is. The vast majority of the time, they are made into juice or dried cranberries. However, there is a small percentage—about 3%—which are produced and packaged in their raw state.
Drying Process
They are usually sliced in half or alternatively, the outer skin is broken, so that the moisture can flow out to speed up the drying process. They are then soaked in sugar water to sweeten them and dried in an oven or a dehydrator at a very low heat, ranging between 55°C [131°F] and 75°C [167°F] for an average of eight hours until they reach the desired dryness, such that no moisture comes out when they are pressed.
As of today, there is no hechsher we are aware of that supervises the drying/cooking process of Craisins to ensure bishul Yisroel. The shaila is why there is no problem of bishul akum in the production process. We will analyze this from multiple angles.
Fit for a Royal Table
It would seem they are fit for a royal table [a condition for the issur of bishul akum (see Issue 374, par. 16)]. Although they might not be eaten on their own, they are commonly eaten as an ingredient in other dishes even at dignified meals.
Eaten in a mixture. There is a machlokes haposkim whether a food only fit for a royal table when mixed with other foods is considered “fit for a royal table.” Some are meikel (שו''ת בית שלמה יו''ד סי' קע''ח, שו''ת טוב טעם ודעת תנינא רכ''ה, ערוה''ש סכ''ג לגבי סוכר ).
However, many poskim are machmir even if a food is only eaten as a secondary component or as part of a mixture with other foods, just as we are machmir for bishul akum with spices (לבוש סי' קי''ב ס''י, מנחת יעקב כלל ע''ה אות כ', פרי מגדים קי''ב משב''ז סק''ו, שו''ת התעוררות תשובה ח''א סי' פ''ו, שו''ת מחזה אליהו ח''ב סי' מ''ז ).
Eaten Raw
“Edible” raw [“ראוי”]. The reality is that only about 3% of commercial cranberries are sold in their raw state, without being dried. This reflects the small amount eaten raw. This gets into a machlokes haposkim we cited previously (Issue 374). Some hold that to not be subject to the issur of bishul akum, a food needs to be “edible” raw (ibid., 8). Although cranberries are sour and bitter, they are edible raw. [In a discussion of the Vaad HaKashrus of the Eida Chareidis in Av 5773, the rabbanim tasted raw cranberries. Most of them said they are edible raw; a minority of them said they are too sour to be eaten raw.] It can be said that cranberries are edible raw, or at least edible raw with difficulty, which is also a machlokes haposkim (ibid., 12-13). According to this, cranberries are not subject to bishul akum.
“Commonly” eaten raw [“דרך ”]. However, we also cited poskim who hold that the food must be commonly eaten raw (ibid., 7), i.e., most people eat them raw at times. Cranberries would seem to be far from this definition, even if the rabbanim tasted them and found them to be edible. It is very possible that none of us has ever even seen a raw cranberry. Thus, according to this opinion, cranberries are not considered “eaten raw” and are subject to the issur of bishul akum.
Eaten raw after soaking. Another point of discussion is that before they are dried in an oven, they are soaked in sugar water to minimize their sourness. When eaten with the sugar water before they are dried, they are edible and tasty, but in practice, people do not eat them at this stage since it is done in a factory and they are not accessible to people—they are edible but not commonly eaten that way. Again, this is subject to the machlokes (above, 8-9) regarding foods edible raw but not commonly eaten raw.
Drying in an Oven
There is another point of discussion. Is the drying process in the oven itself considered bishul or baking that would make it assur due to bishul akum, or is drying not bishul? We explained (3) that the cranberries are put into an oven at a low heat, just enough to remove their moisture. Really, they could be dried in the sun, the same way grapes are dried to make raisins, just to save time and speed up the drying process, it is done in an oven.
The claim could be made that this process is called drying, not cooking. Cooking usually brings about a result that could not have been done in another way, so the non-Jew’s action significantly helped and benefited the Jew. With the drying process, in contrast, the same results could be achieved naturally using the sun; they only do it in a factory with an oven for the speed and the soaking in sweet water. If so, perhaps this is not considered cooking which would make it assur due to bishul akum.
However, there are sources that show that the drying process is also a problem of bishul akum (עי' רש''י ע''ז דף ל''ז ע''ב, ריטב''א ומאירי שם, ערוה''ש סכ''ז לגבי פירות יבשים ).
In Practice
Meikilim. The reality is that all kashrus agencies, even the most machmir ones [e.g., the Eida Chareidis], hold cranberries pose no issue of bishul akum. Thus, they do not require bishul Yisroel and grant their hashgacha to Craisins dried by non-Jews. They rely on some of the above rationales: they are only fit for a royal table in a mixture (6), and they are edible raw even if not commonly eaten raw (8), at least in the stage when they are soaked in sugar water (10), and at least with difficulty (Issue 374, par. 13). Also, perhaps they hold drying alone is not a problem of bishul akum (12). In any case, they hold there is basis to rely on.
Machmirim. However, some poskim object to these heteirim. They hold one should at least be machmir l’chatchila, because all the above heteirim are subject to machlokes, as mentioned. Since they are made by non-Jews, there is at least a possible concern for the issur of bishul akum (הגר''מ קובר, ס' אוצ''ה בישולי עכו''ם ). At the very least, it would be “fitting” [“ראוי ”] for the machmir kashrus agencies to be machmir since they are “regularly” machmir [“דרך ”]...
