37. Today there are many companies involved in online food delivery, e.g., Wolt, Uber Eats, bis, Deliveroo, and others. One can order ready-made food through these companies from a range of restaurants; they send the order to the selected restaurant; and they promise to deliver the goods within a certain amount of time. The customer pays the delivery company when he orders the food, and the company transfers payment to the restaurants. Many of these companies take orders for kosher restaurants with high-level hashgachos.
38. Some hechsherim in the USA require all food deliveries to be sealed with tape that has the hashgacha’s symbol on it; that is a wonderful policy. [Although sometimes it is a non-Jewish worker who seals the package in the store, for these purposes we rely on the owner or mashgiach coming in and out [יוצא ונכנס] to ensure he is doing things properly.]
39. Unfortunately, though, not all hashgachos ensure food is sent properly. They should l’chatchila be careful about this, as mentioned – meat products with two seals, dairy products with one. Although there are potential heterim to permit the food b’dieved, as mentioned, a G-d-fearing person is careful to live his life in a l’chatchila way.
40. Ready-made food. If fleishige, ready-made food was sent without a seal, some allow it to be eaten b’dieved if the customer is familiar from past orders with how that food from that restaurant looks, based on the halacha of טביעת עין [recognizing something without specific identifying signs] (מו''ר בעל שבט הקהתי).
41. Pizza. When ordering pizza through such a company, l’chatchila the box should be closed with a sticker that is torn when opened, as per the halacha of a single seal.
42. Similarly, when sending baked goods, baguettes, toast, sandwiches, etc., the food can be placed in a paper bag stapled shut in such a way that one can tell if the staples were opened.
43. B’dieved. However, if it was not sent in the proper l’chatchila way, one can b’dieved rely on heterim, e.g., if it was sent through a public area (7) on a motorbike with no way to secretly swap the food. One can also track the precise location in real time to make sure the driver does not stray from the quickest route.
44. Similarly, one can b’dieved factor in the machlokes haposkim whether we say a professional wouldn’t undermine himself (9), since the deliveryman works for a company which holds him accountable for his various activities.
45. Also, most of the time the deliveryman does not benefit from swapping, so according to some it is mutar b’dieved (6). However, there was an instance where a pizza fell on the floor, so the driver went and bought cheaper pizza from a random store to avoid having to pay for expensive, kosher pizza.
