Instructions and Details on Using Our Site
Our website works like this: You search for your product, and the Date Code Cutoff that is listed in orange, is the date in which an item becomes chodosh.
Compare your product’s Best By Date, Lot Code, or Packing Date to the one on our site (it will specify what to look for).
In order to actually be yoshon, the date on your package must be before the date on our site.
Here is how to use all of our site’s features…
A. Do a Search: Type your search term or item in one of the “Search” boxes, found in the Yoshon.com header and footer.
By Product Name: The best results are achieved by first typing the Brand, then the specific Product, (and for large companies add the Country).
By UPC Bar Code: Alternatively, if you have the product in hand, you can also type in the entire UPC bar code number. For most, it is 12 digits in the USA and Canada, except for Trader Joe’s items. In other countries, it is usually 13 digits.
Once typed in, hit “Enter” on your computer keyboard, or tap on “Search” on your phone or mobile device.
Scan With Our App: Just open up our app, hit scan and point the camera window frame over the UPC Bar Code. If we have information it will come up.
If it gives you a choice of 2, that means there are 2 entries for the product (they may have been made in two different countries, or one is refrigerated and the other type frozen). Choose which one applies.
(Check out the app here: https://yoshon.com/mobile-app.)
B. Find Your Product: When an entry’s product image shows up, click on the blue product title or the picture to view the product’s information.
It may be a similar item within a list (with a different picture than your product).
If a product is not found, we usually have no information on it, or it may have been misspelled.
C. View the Main Information on the Product. The features of the product shown include:
1. Title- Brand with Product Name or a general description for multiple products.
2. (Location Made) shows a location of origin if it is important to know. If a brand’s products are made in multiple countries or exported, it’s necessary info. No location listing means it’s from the USA.
3. Status or Date Code (in orange) shows info needed to know for a product to be yoshon. The Date Code or Status is found to the right of the picture beneath the title) A Status is usually “Yoshon”, or may be Yoshon under certain conditions, or could even be “Chodosh”. The Date Code is the best buy cutoff date on the package as to the last day it is yoshon. In order for the product to be yoshon, the best by date on your package must always be before this date. (The same goes for Packing Dates or lot codes.)
If there are alternative Date Codes, they will be shown here with “or”.
If an item is yoshon with a specific lot number or date, it will have “Only” listed with it.
Note on Date Codes: Some people may ask “Why can’t you just tell me if it is yoshon or not? The answer is, any given product can be made on a different day. This means that one person’s product may be made early enough that it is yoshon, and another’s too late, and may be chodosh. Therefore, one HAS to determine it by the date code.
For more on learning about this, please see our article on Date Codes Explained, and How to Calculate Date Codes. It is extremely important to put in the small amount of effort to learn this skill, just as one would do for any other mitzvah.
4. Multiple Products List: If there are two or more products in an entry with the same ingredients, and Date Code or Status.
5. Notes: Any important items concerning the specific product. It could be regarding a certain package size, hashgacha, an infestation, or a product recall.
6. Updated As Of: The green date is the time of the last reported update on the product’s info. This sample picture shows that the last update was from August 26, 2021.
Viewing Additional Information
Scroll down slightly to view “Additional Info”. (Pick whether you have a computer or mobile device, as they differ slightly.)
Computers (Left): Scroll down slightly, and below the picture will be the “Hechsher” tab (showing the Kosher Supervising Agency’s symbol) and “Additional Info” to its right.
Mobile Devices (Right): Scroll down until after the brand name logo of the product. Below it will show the “Hechsher” tab to the left, and “Additional Information” tab to the right.
Viewing the Hechsher
Hechsher
This shows a sample picture of the hechsher on the product. Sometimes, this can be a direct hint as to knowing whether your item is yoshon or not. Most hechsherim from the USA have to have yoshon on the label, but there are a few “Always-Yoshon” hechsherim from the UK and of course Israel. (See our sheet of “Always-Yoshon Hechsherim” on our “Updates and Downloads” page.
Viewing Additional Information
Additional Information
Shelf Life: If known, this is shown.
Grain Ingredient: This lists all grain ingredients in a product. If it contains no grain it has “No Problematic Ingredients”.
Designation: Any special designations (Parve, Dairy, Cholov Yisroel or Stam, Glatt Kosher Meat, Kosher for Passover, Pas Yisroel, etc.).
Kosher Supervision: Overseeing kosher agency. (A picture of the Hechsher is shown in “Hechsher” tab to the left.)
Yoshon Hashgacha: Rabbi or agency overseeing yoshon status. (Shown only if applicable).
Update Source: This is where TYNI has gotten its yoshon information for the product. (See Note below.)
UPC Barcode: If known, the complete UPC numbers of the product and its variations will appear here. If it is unknown, this will not be shown.
A Note On Our Sources: TYNI derives all of its information from our contacts at all the major Kashrus Agencies. This helps provide consumers with more accuracy, since it is provided directly from the kashrut agencies and their Mashgichim who work and are familiar with each specific company. We also get yoshon info individually from COR and MK of Canada, UOS of South Africa, KLBD, KF, MBD, and Kedassia of the UK, and several other reliable kashrut agencies in the USA. Occasionally we get info from reputable companies with reliable mashgichim. Some research is also done by TYNI itself.
Why a Different Product Can Be Displayed in a Specific Search
A Word About “Like-Kind” Products: Often, when a brand has similar products with the exact same grain ingredients and the same Date Code, they will be listed together under one product (as shown in note 5 above). A good example is pasta (shown below). If you searched for a certain brand of pasta in Whole Wheat Spaghetti, it may come up as the same brand, but showing a picture of Whole Wheat Spirals.
This is due to brands having multiple pasta shapes, but all still share the same ingredients and Date Code. When there are a great variety of shapes, all these “like-kind” products will be listed within one entry, so that if one of them is searched for it will come up in the results with the word highlighted in the initial search.
The same thing holds true for other products such as cereals. If two different cereals have the same exact problematic grain ingredients and the same Date Code, they may be listed together. This is also true for Yoshon items, or items with “No Problematic Ingredients” as well. Any products with different ingredients or different Date Codes are always put in completely separate entries.
Specific Questions
Yoshon.com: If there are any questions about our site, please contact us at Info@YoshonNetwork.org. The Yoshon Network Inc. (TYNI) will answer basic yoshon questions only, or use our chatbot YAIR at the bottom right. Text, WhatsApp chat and Email are always the best way to contact us. We no longer answer questions by phone, as it is too labor intensive and we have limited volunteers. If a product is listed on our site but it is not coming up, it may be missing the UPC. If you have that UPC bar code number, please send us that information! You will be helping others as well.
Halachic Questions: If you have questions about the yoshon status of certain ingredients in products, and/or questions pertaining to specific minhagim, please ask your Rav.
TYNI does not answer Halachic questions or give any kind of P’sak. Everyone must ask their own Rav.
Yoshon Product Questions: If you have questions about the yoshon status of a product, always ask the agency that does the hashgacha on that product to see if it is yoshon“.
Never ask a company rep or customer support if a product is yoshon, or you may get a false positive answer. Those who don’t really understand what yoshon is, tend to confuse it with being kosher.
Product Manufacturing Questions: If you have questions about when a product was made by a certain company, go to Product Lists in the Menu and click on “Brands“. (For mobile devices, click on the box with the lines in the upper right corner to view the menu.)
The “Brands” page shows all the companies we report on, either by logo or in alphabetical list. Click on the logo or company link you need, and it will take you to their website (if there is one). If you are looking at a certain product entry, you can also click on the brand’s logo to go to their site. Usually a site will have their current contact information on a “Contact Us” page.