Holy Macaroni! Mom Bloggers Want to Learn About Kosher Foods by Wendy Hirschhorn - CEO of Wendy’s Bloggers

For food manufacturers whose products are certified kosher, the good news is Mom Bloggers want to be educated.

Whether or not Mom Bloggers personally maintain kosher lifestyles, the fact is they review food that is certified kosher. Being armed with basic facts about kosher dietary laws will enable them to spread this information to millions of moms.

In a survey among Mom Bloggers in my network, 25% said they seek out kosher foods and 58% reported they do not know how to identify kosher foods. Remarkably, 86% want to learn more.

“Kosher certification is a great value to consumers when they think about the food they eat and feed their children,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, chief operating officer of OU Kosher, the largest kosher certification agency in the world.

The OU (Orthodox Union) certifies more than 500,000 products produced in more than 8,000 food facilities in 80 countries. It sends rabbis, who are trained in kosher certification, to inspect facilities – unannounced – on a periodic, on-going basis.

“Foods that are certified kosher are attracting a growing number of consumers who like to know that the food they eat is supervised,” said Rabbi Elefant. “Some religious groups like Muslims and Seventh Day Adventists follow dietary guidelines similar to kosher rules.

“Additionally, every certified kosher product also must carry a label if it contains dairy. This is particularly important to consumers who have dairy allergies or are lactose intolerant.

“At the end of the day, kosher certification is a marketing decision,” said Rabbi Elefant. “A food advertisement may run a few times a week on TV or appear in monthly magazines, or once a week in newspapers, but the kosher symbol appears every day on every certified kosher product.”

Many of the Mom Bloggers in my network perceive that kosher foods adhere to a higher standard. Typical among the comments in the survey were: “Kosher means the quality is better and that there is less stuff in the foods that I do not want my family eating;” “It’s cleaner than other products;” “It has no fillers;” and “There are no added chemicals.”

So what are the kosher ABCs Mom Bloggers should be familiar with?
According to Rabbi Elefant, there are three basic tenets:

1. You can’t mix dairy and meat;
2. You can’t eat certain animals, poultry or fish; and
3. Animals must be slaughtered in a certain way and processed on kosher equipment.

In our increasingly global world of processed foods it’s not easy to determine how ingredients are sourced and prepared. Food Manufacturers of certified kosher products can and should take pride that they are providing an extra layer of protection. Educating Mom Bloggers is a good place to start.

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Wendy Hirschhorn is CEO of Wendy’s Bloggers, a bridge for food manufacturers to create valuable relationships with Mommy Bloggers and their followers. For more information visit www.wendysbloggers.com or contact Wendy at 212-826-8790 or wendy@wendysbloggers.com.

DISCLOSURE: Article used with permission of Wendy Hirschhorn is CEO of Wendy’s Bloggers and originally published as an Article for The Griffin Report of Food Marketing - Submitted 8/18/14.