Do granola bars with oat flour need to be Pas Yisroel?

 

Question: 

Are there any granola bars that need to be Pas Yisroel? I noticed that some bars are soft with more of a cookie type texture and in the ingredients it lists oat flour (besides for oats). Would the fact that it contains flour make that it should need to be Pas Yisroel?

 

Answer:

Regarding common granola bars, see Halacha2Go #461.

With regards to flour listed in the ingredients:

If the flour is a primary ingredient, it would require Pas Yisroel. Such a recipe, however, is highly unlikely to be sold as a ‘granola bar’ (and is often called instead a “soft bar”).

If the flour is there only as a binder, however, it would be like a regular granola bar, and would not require Pas (or Bishul) Yisroel as explained in the above link.

This distinction can sometimes be ascertained through seeing where the flour is indicated on the commercial package – towards the beginning of the list of ingredients, or later on.

While on the subject it is worthwhile to note that although the Bracha on a granola bar is quite complex, as discussed in Halacha2Go #426, if the granola bar has flour in it – even if it is not one of the major quantitative ingredients, it can very likely be Mezonos.

 

Sources:

אכ”מ לפרט כל הפרטי דינים שבזה.

פת ישראל – ע״פ שו״ע יו״ד קיב, יד ובנו״כ.

ברכה ראשונה – סדר ברה״נ ג, ב-ג. שם ח, ד.

 

 

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