Understanding "Keeping It Kosher"

Not being Jewish, I have no basis for considering a Kosher diet or foods labeled "Kosher."  Or do I? We are seeing more and more products in stores with a symbol that indicates the food is kosher. We see labels indicating "organic," non-GMO, and others that we mostly don't understand, but let's look at "kosher" a bit. The following was shared with me by Wendy Hirschhorn who is the owner of Wendy's Bloggers and who writes a monthly column for The Griffin Report of Food Marketing.

Very simply, kosher foods are those that conform to the regulations of Jewish dietary laws.

Food that may be consumed according to Jewish law is termed “kosher,” which in Hebrew means "fit" (in this context, “fit for consumption”).

A list of some kosher foods and rules are found in the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Reasons for food not being kosher include:

1. The presence of ingredients derived from non-kosher animals (pigs, camels, monkeys, bats, etc.) or from kosher animals that were not slaughtered in a ritually-proper manner
2. Mixing meat and dairy  (for instance, a cheeseburger is not considered kosher even if the meat is kosher and the cheese is kosher)
3. Any food that has been processed on non-kosher cooking utensils and machinery

You can identify foods that are certified kosher by a symbol on food labels.  The most popular is the letter “U” inside the letter “O”.  (It stands for Orthodox Union).

Each symbol represents a kosher certification agency. For instance, the Orthodox Union is a kosher certification agency.

When you see a kosher symbol on a food label, it means that the kosher certification agency inspects the facility where that food is made on an on-going, unannounced basis. This assures consumers that the food manufacturer is keeping it kosher.

Look carefully at the food labels in your pantry and fridge. You’ll be surprised to see how many foods you buy that are certified kosher!

(Article republished with permission from Wendy Hirschhorn.)