ConAgra Mills and The KOF-K have partnered up to make fresh yoshon flour available.
 
ConAgra Mills’ Denver Eagle facility in Denver, Colo., and a ConAgra Mills wheat storage house is devoted exclusively to yoshon flour production. Previously, the Omaha, Neb.-based company had scheduled to close the Denver operation, but ConAgra Mills decided to keep the plant doors open for the production of yoshon.

Yoshon, (pronunciation: yuh-shun) the Hebrew term for old, refers to grain that had taken root before the second day of the Jewish holiday Passover, when the grain offering was brought to the Holy Temple years ago. This grain was permissible for consumption. However, any grain that took root after the second day of the holiday was stored until the next year’s grain offering was brought, and only then could it be used, according to ConAgra Mills.
 
Until now, yoshon has been available by frozen stock and for bulk purchases only, according to ConAgra Mills. The flour mills that did provide yoshon did so at a huge financial risk because there was no guarantee that all the flour would be used and there was still a big problem of bug infestation, which would wipe out entire stock piles despite being in cold storage, the company notes.

To ensure adherence to Kosher law, there is a permanent on-site Kosher supervisor overseeing the packing and sealing of the rail cars used for transport, as well as one on location at ConAgra Mills’ Bronx Terminal distribution center. Trucks are cleaned in preparation for the yoshon flour and a seal is placed on each truck as it sets out to the purchasing bakeries. And since the flour will be completely fresh, not in frozen storage, the infestation issue and quality control issues are all but eliminated, ConAgra Mills reports.