kilikini

My husband came home from work yesterday with the knowledge that many food
canning/bottling companies label their food with a circle and a K inside
(The Organized Kashrus Laboratories) or a circle with a U inside (The Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations) to show that the foods are kosher.

We started pulling out our canned goods, our condiments, salt, etc. and were
amazed to find that the majority of our goods have those symbols on them!

What's the difference between the organizations? Why the U, why the K?

We were just curious because we never noticed those symbols before and the
more we looked, the more we found!

Thanks for any explanation you can give.

kili

jean b.

Wow! That's a great link, for various piecs of information.
(I am technically Jewish, but that was a BIG secret, so I know
NOTHING about the religion.) Thanks.

--
Jean B.

maxine in ri

Basically, all plant based foods are kosher, ruminants with cloven
hooves and chew their cud and are slaughtered in the prescribed manner,
certain birds (chickens, turkeys, quail, duck, a few others)
slaughtered in the prescribed manner, and fish with gills and true
scales. The birds and mammals have to be soaked and salted as well, to
remove as much blood as possible.

The hechshers (the UO, OK, etc) are needed when something is processed.
If a company makes a meat sauce and a vegetarian sauce, they need to
use either totally separate manufacturing lines, or else clean the
equipment in a specific way before making the vegetarian sauce.

Canned and frozen vegetables, because they have been heated as part of
the process (parboiling for the frozen, heated for the canned) also
need to be checked.

The products obtain the approval by requesting that a trained
individual (usually a rabbi) come in and inspect their manufacturing
process and ingredients, to be sure nothing that is treif (trafe) has
been used in the processes. Some release agents in baking are allowed
by the US government to have a minimal amount of animal fat in them,
which would make them non-kosher. Added calcium can come from
shellfish.

At it's very basicness, kosher is not mixing milk and meat, and not
eating shelfish, pork, or insects. In Leviticus, I think, there are
lists of which animals are kosher, which are not, and specific ways to
decide whether a new species (for example, bison or kangaroos) are
edible. (Bison is, kangaroo isn't)

Not all of it makes sense, and it works as a reminder that God is the
source of everything, so if you have to think about whether your food
is acceptable, you are keeping God in mind. It's similar to a Catholic
telling their rosary, or a pagan creating sacred space.

Enough. I ramble on.

maxine in ri

kilikini

Wow, I'm saving this post, Maxine, thank you!

kili

saerah gray

<snip explanation of kashrut>

yeah, I was way too lazy to type all that out

Saerah

puester

emailed and posted

Thanks for your input. I spent my eastern life till age 39 among many
Jewish families and knew something about kashrut but every little bit
that someone posts adds to understanding.

When I was newly married I worked as a social worker for the City of
Hartford. One of my clients was a 90-something Jewish lady who we were
trying to get to move into the Mt. Sinai assisted living facility next
to the hospital.

Her major objection was the food "I have kept Kosher for all my life
and I won't eat the dreck they feed you in a place like that."

I finally had her meet with the director of food service, the dietitian,
and the head cook who explained their Kosher kitchens. She finally
agreed to the move.

gloria p