A reader wrote in that the bags of assorted-color peppers at Aldi state that some of them are from Israel.
As a reminder, produce from Eretz Yisroel should not be assumed to have terumos and maasros taken (except under certain circumstances). The consumer must therefore perform a separation of terumos and maasros after purchase. For instructions see the OU’s page at https://oukosher.org/blog/consumer-kosher/separating-terumah-and-maaser/ or the Star-K’s page at https://www.star-k.org/articles/kosher-lists/1160/terumos-and-maasros/.
As the OU article points out, taking terumos and maasros is not a complicated procedure once you’re familiar with it. Therefore, everything else being equal, you the consumer should not avoid purchasing produce from Eretz Yisroel and withholding your support of its economy.
It would be unfortunate if Jewish consumers, believing this separation to be a complicated procedure, declined to purchase Israeli produce. There is no need to withhold this revenue from the Israeli economy. In truth, the actual procedure is a simple one and can be mastered in but a few moments of time.
Additionally, the OU article–which seems to have been written in 2006 and updated in 2013–points out that a common source of packaged grapefruit segments sold in America is Israel and the consumer should be careful to check the labels on packaged grapefruit segments.
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