Understanding Kosher Certifications as an allergic person

Below is an entry that my friend Baruch wrote for me about kosher certifications.  As an observant Jew, he is the expert on this subject matter in my life.  A lot of people with dairy allergies find that understanding kosher certifications can be very useful, so I asked him to write a guest entry since I have A LOT to learn on the subject and don’t feel as though I can speak on this subject and get it right! I hope you learn as much from this entry as I have!  Thanks Baruch!!

While the kosher market was initially formed to meet the needs of observant Jewish consumers needing to guarantee that food prepared and processed outside of their immediate supervision adhered to Biblical and rabbinic guidelines, the majority of those who buy kosher products in America today do so because of non-religious reasons. Those with food allergies, vegetarians, vegans, and other health conscious shoppers seek out packages with kosher labeling in hope of avoiding foods containing fish, dairy, or meat. While kosher labels can certainly guide people in the right direction for their particular need, the variety of symbols available and the additional notes along with the symbols could make the uninformed shopper confused, and leave them still unaware of just exactly what is in the product. As an observant Jew whose eating habits depend entirely upon kosher certification, I can understand the need to be sure of exactly what’s in my food.

What does that mean?

When shopping for products with kosher labeling, there are a few things to keep in mind. Jewish law restricts kosher eaters from mixing foods with meat and dairy products together in the same meal (and even requires waiting six hours after eating meat before a dairy product can be consumed). This means that while FDA regulation may not require dairy or dairy extracts and lactose to be listed on ingredient labels, kosher symbols will note that the product has dairy or a dairy byproduct in it. The same goes for products with fish, as they cannot be eaten together with meat. If something is “dairy”, then the kosher symbol with have a “D” next to it. The same thing goes for meat, which will have an “M” (if it isn’t something that is clearly meat, like actual steaks or deli meat), and fish, which will have an “F” (this is uncommon, and normally only applies to certain salad dressing and steak sauces).

Secondly, while there are many reliable kosher certification agencies out there with unique symbols, a plain “K” is not able to be copyrighted or trademarked, so it cannot be relied upon for certification. While observant Jews will sometimes eat products with this certification, it is often due to the fact that this particular cereal or drink is known to simply be made from unprocessed grain and sugar, in factories without concern of cross-contamination, therefore not really needing any certification at all.

A third thing that might cause confusion is the notion of “pareve” and how it is labeled. Something that is “pareve” (or parve, or parev, depending upon the certification agency) is something that has absolutely no meat and absolutely no dairy (nor byproducts from either one). Most kosher agencies will not make any special notification that something is pareve. A plain kosher symbol, without any qualifying letters or words next to it, shows that an item is pareve. Sometimes, when a product commonly has dairy in it but was made on special runs without it, the word “pareve” will be added to the kosher symbol.

Whenever something is kosher for Passover, it will have an additional notification next to, on top of, or below the symbol. This means that, in addition to meeting the other kosher requirements, the item also does not contain wheat products. This is what the plain “P” usually notes. The “P” doesn’t mean pareve, but kosher for Passover.

Labeling surprises

      Once you start watching for kosher symbols on products, you may start noticing some surprising things. One is the frequency of products having dairy involved in the making of the item. Dairy and its byproducts are used in all sorts of flavoring for chips and pretzels, crackers, candies, popsicles, popcorn, and a whole host of other commonly eaten items. These are often items that don’t even include “milk” or “cheese” as part of the flavor. As a local Louisiana example, quite a few flavors of Zapp’s potato chips include dairy byproducts in the flavoring, and reflect that in the kosher label.

         Something else that might jump out at you is that things that claim to be dairy free still have a “D” included in their kosher label. This could occur for several reasons. One is that the food might contain such a low percentage of milk product in it that it can legally make the claim “dairy free”. Another is that while it doesn’t include dairy in the item, the factory in which it is produced also makes dairy products, and sometimes uses the same trays or belts or machines to process both the milk product and the dairy free version. Because of cross-contamination concerns, or because of the heat and lingering particles of the production, the label will be oversensitive, treating the item as if it is a dairy product. Sometimes this will be noted with the additional words “processed on dairy equipment”.

         Another thing that might be surprising is that while an item has a low number of ingredients, or seems to be fairly basic, it does not have kosher certification. This is often either due to the product containing a meat byproduct or extract (in order for it to be kosher, it would need to come from an animal slaughtered in a kosher way), or because it is made with vegetables or grains that are not checked for bugs and infestation in accordance with Jewish requirement.

         One more thing to keep in mind is that while an item might be certified today, it doesn’t mean that it will be tomorrow. Products sometimes change the ingredients, or start importing glycerin (often made from meat byproducts) or other ingredients from small factories overseas, meaning that kosher certification agencies cannot vouch for the origin of the items. Also, while an item might be kosher in America, or kosher in England or other European locations, it isn’t made kosher in every factory. For instance, while Pringles are kosher in America, they aren’t certified in Europe.

Symbols

      Here is a list of commonly occurring kosher symbols in North America. Depending on your location, certain symbols might be more common than others. Some of them are regional, and might only apply to a restaurant or locally made item. Others are worldwide organizations that certify products across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Also, some symbols might only include Hebrew writing. These are often items that are imported from Israel or are almost completely limited to places with very large Orthodox Jewish populations. Normally these items are made by Jewish-owned companies, and they tend to not make commonly eaten foods (like crackers or chips or pretzels) dairy, unlike larger national brands.

         The image below shows you a typical item certified by the OU (the Orthodox Union), and is a dairy item. Notice that it is a box of commonly eaten plain saltine crackers.

         Here we have an item that, while kosher all year, contains corn starch (which is not kosher for Passover), and therefore makes a special run in many factories to produce a kosher for Passover product. The top has the kosher symbol with a “P” next to it, and also the Hebrew words “kosher l’Pesach” (kosher for Passover) above it.

         This is an item that states that it is pareve.

         Because gelatin is normally made from animal parts, most gelatin, marshmallows, and other items aren’t kosher. However, national brands might do special runs using synthetic or fish gelatin.

         I hope that with the information here, you will feel more confident the next time you head to the grocery store looking out for items to avoid.