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Donut Shop Gets
Caught In Kosher

JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER

t the beginning of last
week, a Southfield
Dunkin' Donuts store
proudly hung a banner
proclaiming its status as a kosher
bakery. By week's end, the ban-
ner was down, along with a pur-
ported certificate of kosher
compliance.
It's a 'crazy kosher world.
Claiming he received bad in-
formation from a regular cus-
tomer who assured him he had
been properly certified by Kof-K,
a New Jersey kosher certification
agency, owner Bob Patel sought
out the help of the Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis of Metropolitan
Detroit late last week. They are
now working together to kash-
er the place, he and Rabbi Joseph
Krupnik of the Council said.
The customer, an Oak Park
resident who said he supplies lo-
cal restaurants with kosher prod-
ucts, claimed the Council refused
certification because it wanted
to squelch competition in the
kosher bakery community.
Mr. Patel, a native of India
who immigrated to the United
States 10 years ago, said he went
to Kof-K after the Council re-
N
fused to certify Dunkin' Donuts
as kosher. The store, at 28799
Northwestern Highway, operat-
ed as a kosher bakery with Coun-
cil supervision for over 10 years
before its owner closed it to pur-
sue other business opportunities.
Mr. Patel and his brother bought
>D- the place and opened in early De-
cember.
Rabbi Daniel Senter of Kof-K
confirmed that he was consult-
ing with Mr. Patel and had only
provided the first page of a con-
tract, not a certificate.
"We have to clear this up with
local rabbis. I want to make sure
there weren't any problems with
the previous owners. We're in the
process of evaluating the certifi-
cation," Rabbi Senter said.
However, Mr. Patel said he
has decided to stay closer to
home.
"I didn't think the Kof-K cer-
tificate was right," he said last
Friday. "I had a meeting with
Rabbi Krupnik and they are
ready to make this place kosher."
Mr. Patel said he was tipped
off that he might be mistaken
about his kosher certification by
another customer who came into
the store late last week. That led
him to call the Council, which
had already conferred with Kof-
K because of doubts about the
certification. He believes he'll get
a kosher blessing soon.
Rabbi Krupnik said last Fri-

A

day was the second time he met
Mr. Patel, denying that politics
or any other consideration be-
sides food played a role in the
Council's refusal to certify
Dunkin' Donuts.
"There were ham sandwiches
available in the store when they
first opened. We told him he had
to evaluate which way he was go-
ing to go, and if he felt he want-
ed to go kosher to contact us.
There were other people involved
who had no business being in-
volved, and they messed up the
situation from the beginning," he
said.
Rabbi Krupnik said officials at
Kof-K told him last week that ap-
plication had been made, "but no
more than an application."
He said kosher certification
could be forthcoming after the
Council makes sure every ingre-
dient in every item sold is kosher
and made on the premises and
that the baking and frying equip-
ment is kashered.
"During the next couple of
days somebody will be by to see
the operation. We'll see what has
to be done and then continue
from there. We'll discuss it at a
meeting of our main rabbis and
then finalize what we need from
him," Rabbi Krupnik said.
He scoffed at the assertion
that the Council wants to keep
Dunkin' Donuts out of the kosher
market in the city because it
would take away business from
other kosher institutions.
"Have you ever seen more
than two dozen donuts at Ze-
man's at any time? In this case,
the level of absurdity of such a
statement is beyond my under-
standing. It's absurd. There are
laws against restraint of trade,"
he said.
The cost of certification and su-
pervision depends on the dis-
or
mashgiach,
tance a
supervising rabbi, must travel to
the store and the frequency of
food deliveries at Dunkin'
Donuts, Rabbi Krupnik said.
"Smaller 'mom and pop' shops
are more involved in supervision.
If they're short, they might buy
something from the local grocery.
We have to see how often he gets
in his raw materials. If he gets
certain items on a once-a-week
basis, fine, but if it's on a daily
basis, we'd have to be there every
day."
The cost is based on visits and
ranges from $10 to $20 per hour,
he said.
The Dunkin' Donuts store is
open 24 hours every day.

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