Uber Eats, Instacart & More: Purchasing Food When The Delivery Guy Isn’t A Frum Yid + Important Things Must Beware of [#120] 

Uber Eats, Instacart & More: Purchasing Food When The Delivery Guy Isn't A Frum Yid + Important Things Must Beware of [#120] 

Uber Eats, Instacart & More: Purchasing Food When The Delivery Guy Isn't A Frum Yid + Important Things Must Beware of

Topic: Can kosher food be entrusted to a non-Jew (or a Jew who doesn’t keep the halachos of kashrus) from the time it leaves the restaurant until it reaches your door—and what practical issues must people be careful about when ordering through these apps?

Please note: This is NOT a personal psak halacha. Real-life cases can vary greatly. Any question or situation of doubt should be discussed with a competent Rav or Posek.

Introduction – The Core Question (Hufkad B’yad Goy)

Today we’re discussing a very pertinent question when it comes to ordering from food delivery apps like Uber Eats, Instacart, and similar services (including kosher restaurants that offer delivery through apps).

The halachic issue is hufkad b’yad goy—entrusting kosher food to a non-Jew, or even to a Jew who does not keep the halachos of kosher. The question is: from the time the food leaves the restaurant until it arrives at your door, is that acceptable, or is there a concern?

There is also a second part to this topic: important practical issues that many people are unaware of when ordering from these apps.

Why Is This an Issue?

A person may ask: “Who says the driver touched anything?”

A few years ago a survey was done amongst 500 delivery drivers where 28% admitted to opening and eating from packages.

The concern in halacha is not that someone might eat from it. The concern is that if the driver has a reason to benefit—such as financial gain, or if he is hungry and eats it, he might replace the kosher item with a non-kosher substitute. That is why seals become so important.

The Sources and Background

This topic is based on the Gemara and Shulchan Aruch, as well as articles from Star-K and COR (Canada), and a shiur given by Rav Shraga Feivel Zimmerman shlit”a.

The Gemara in Avodah Zarah daf 39 discusses two categories (referred to as “CHaVIS” (חבית) and “CHaMPaG” (חמפג)) and concludes that certain items require two seals and certain items require one seal.

The Gemara comes out that the abbreviations are referring to:

Foods that require TWO seals:
• Meat
• Skinned fish
• Non-mevushal wine
• Techeiles

These need two seals from when they leave the sender’s hands until they reach the Jewish recipient.

Foods that require ONE seal:
• Cheese
• Bread
• A certain type of Spice
• A certain type of Fish oil

This halacha is codified in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah סימן קי"ח, and we pasken like the Rambam, who separates these as categories of d’Oraysa and d’Rabbanan. So any d’Oraysa level concern would need 2 seals and any d’Rabbanan seal would need 1 seal.

R’ Zimmerman shlit”a says that bread nowadays may be a shailah of d’Oraysa because of ingredients mixed in and would need two seals.

What Is the Purpose of the Seal?

Is the seal meant to physically block access, or is it mainly a deterrent?

We pasken that the reason for the seal is to deter—to make it harder to access the food and to make tampering noticeable.

That’s why for a d’Oraysa item we use two seals, usually meaning: a seal on the food container itself, and then the food placed into a bag that is sealed again (taped, stapled, zip-tied, etc.), and for d’Rabbanan items (like Pizza), one seal suffices.

Halacha L’Maaseh – Practical Case of Receiving an Uber Eats delivery and it is missing the seal(s):

1) A d’Oraysa item that needs two seals, but only has one
It depends what kind of seal it is.

If it is an impenetrable seal that would clearly show it was opened (for example, a tuna can that cannot be opened and resealed), Rav Moshe Feinstein is cited that a metal wine cap can be considered a complete seal. In that type of case, one seal can be relied on lechatchila (if that’s the only item in the delivery) because it cannot be accessed without obvious tampering.

If it is only one regular seal, it depends on who the delivery person was:
• If it was a non-Jew, the Rama says b’dieved one may rely on it.
• If it was a Jew who doesn’t keep kosher, then one can not rely on it even b’dieved when there was only one seal.

2) If there is no seal at all (on a d’Oraysa or d’Rabbanan item)
The concern is usually when the person can benefit from switching the food (neneh b’chiluf)—financially or due to hunger.

However, with delivery apps, drivers are on a tight schedule. If they delay, they can be marked or penalized, and it can affect their standing with the company. So even if a driver might eat from food or want to switch it to make money off of it, he generally would not have time to replace it with a non-kosher version within the delivery window.

Secondly, there is a concept known as “uman lo mera umnaso”—a person is not going to risk his livelihood. As an Uber Eats driver trying to make money, he is not going to take the chance of losing his job by tampering with food.

For these 2 reasons, b’dieved, if the food has already been delivered, in certain app-delivery scenarios, a lack of sealing would not render the food inedible.

Makom Ma’avar L’Rabbim (Public Visibility)

A third concept is if the package was in public view for the whole delivery window, the driver may be afraid of being caught if he tries to switch it.

If it is in the back of a truck with no windows, that is not considered public visibility. If it is in a car with windows, it is a machlokes Poskim whether that counts. However, some deliveries are by moped, and are clearly in public view.

If the delivery is in a completely Jewish area from beginning to end, it can be treated more as lechatchila. If it goes through a non-Jewish area, it would only be b’dieved, even if it is considered visible (van-vs-car-vs-moped).

Additional Points (When There Is No Seal)

There are 2 more concepts which can be relied on even lechatchila:
• Nikar b’tviyas ayin (the Taz): If you can recognize the food clearly (for example, a dish you recognize well from that restaurant/food establishment), you can rely on that recognition.
• No treif equivalent / not replaceable: Some foods are not realistically substitutable in a treif version in a such short delivery window. Some very Jewish foods, like Galleh or Griven among other foods are not readily available or reproducible for him to switch with

In any question or case of doubt, consult a Rav or Posek.

Important Practical Issues People Must Beware Of When Ordering

1) The restaurant may not realize it must seal the order
Not all apps are fully integrated with the restaurant. Sometimes the driver is told by the company to go in and simply pick up food for the customer. The restaurant may not realize it’s going to a kosher consumer and may not seal the package, thinking that the delivery guy is the recipient.

2) Multiple locations—some are not kosher
Some chains have kosher and non-kosher branches. A driver may choose a closer location, and people have received non-kosher food as a result. This has happened with Dunkin Donuts orders where the food came unsealed and they traced it back to a non-kosher store which was more convenient for the driver to pick up from.

3) “Kosher” app listings can be misleading
On Uber Eats, a “kosher” label does not necessarily mean the restaurant is actually kosher. Travelers especially can click “kosher food” and order without realizing it isn’t kosher.

4) Orders placed for babysitters / kids / offices
If no one is checking carefully (seal, source, etc.), problems can slip through without being noticed. A secretary can inadvertently order from a non-kosher location. A babysitter may not be as scrupulous about checking that there are proper seals on the items when they arrive for the starving kids.

5) Add-ons may come from a different restaurant
Even if you’re ordering from a kosher restaurant, Uber Eats may have add-ons from a nearby treif restaurant. People have seen non-kosher items appear even while shopping within a kosher listed restaurant and assumed they were kosher as well…

6) Instacart substitutions
When the shopper can’t find an item, they may substitute another product. Substitutions can lead to non-kosher products arriving, and people at home may assume everything delivered is what was originally selected.

Final Note

This is generally not the recommended way, since many of the heterim mentioned are b’dieved—intended for cases where a person already received the food, is hungry, and cannot realistically/easily replace it or get in touch with a Rav/Posek.

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