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'Kosher pork' on sale in New York deli

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There has been bacon on a flight to Israel, pork in the kosher section of Costco and even an Israeli cookbook dedicated to pig delicacies.

Now, a shopper in New York has expressed shock after finding "kosher pork" in a supermarket.

According to the New Yorker, the offending package was found in a deli in Queens with a label declaring that the animal had been slaughtered in the shechita method.

Customers had the choice of a pork stew bone, on sale for $4.12, pork spare ribs, or pork cutlets for the bargain price of $2.12.

An Israeli artist photographed it and when the stores owner saw the evidence he removed it from his shelves. "Pork cannot be kosher," he told the New Yorker.

Photographer Oded Hirsch told the JC that when he first saw the labels he thought it was just "a very funny joke" or a mistake made by supermarket workers who could not speak Hebrew.

"Only later, I thought is it that easy to put a sticker and make any meat kosher?

"As it looks now, any deli worker can print a kosher sticker and attach it to random food products."

The store is now said to be traif-free.

Luzer Weiss, the director of kosher law enforcement for the New York agriculture department, told VIN News that the labelling error was an isolated incident and due to a newly acquired second-hand printing machine at the store.

"The problem only affected a few packages," he said. "They have never sold kosher meat, are not in a Jewish neighborhood and in fact, they specialise in pork and ham products."

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