Consumer Q&A

Q

I cooked broccoli without checking it for bugs first. After it was cooked, I discovered it was heavily infested, so I threw it out. Does the pot need to be kashered since it was used to cook something that wasn’t kosher?

A

No. The pot does not need to be kashered. Kelim require kashering because they absorb the taste of non-kosher food. Since insects are nosein ta’am lifgam (their taste is considered foul), we are
not concerned with any taste absorbed into the pot. The prohibition is only the insects themselves, not their taste. Therefore, while the broccoli must be discarded, the pot remains kosher. Once it has been cleaned and any actual bugs have been removed, it may be used immediately.