You Can't Judge a Product By Its Panel: Three Problems with Ingredient Lists

As a part of the Jewish people, each one of us has an obligation to keep Kosher. Thank G-d, this is made much easier for us by a hechsher, a kosher symbol, which guarantees that a product is Kosher. However, when a product does not have a hechsher, a seemingly valid question can come up: Why don’t we just check the ingredients for pig lard or beaver hair? Though this may seem like a valid argument, there are many Kashrut problems which may have occurred during the making of the product. A few of these problems include the prohibition of bishul akum, all problems related to bliah, and the unclear meaning behind many of the ingredients.

To start with, the prohibition of bishul akum states that one may not eat food cooked by a non-Jew. This prohibition was put in place by our Rabbis in an attempt to prevent intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews. A number of leniencies serve to limit this rule. For instance, bishul akum only applies if the food was inedible in its raw state (such as a potato) and if it would be worthy of being served ‘al shulchan melachim,’ literally, ‘upon a king’s table.’ The rule of al shulchan melachim can be applied to a large, important dinner event such as a State Dinner, where a food such as baked potatoes would be served. However, short of these conditions, food must have a Jew take part in the cooking process – even if the Jew’s only involvement in that process was putting the product in the oven or even simply turning on the flame. Therefore, even if a product contains only kosher ingredients, if it was cooked completely by a gentile the food is not kosher and cannot be eaten. This is just one of the problems with judging a food’s ‘Kosher status’ based on its ingredients.

Another problem which may come up is the problem of bliah, or absorption of taste, from a treif product to the product in front of you. If a Kosher food absorbs the taste of a non-Kosher food, then the first product becomes treif and cannot be eaten. This can be accomplished though the foods touching, through their zeiah (steam) touching, or even by the treif food falling into a mixture with the Kosher food. According to Jewish law, absorption can only occur when the items in question are heated at a temperature at which “hayad soledet bo,” one’s hand would quickly retract if it touched the product. Our Rabbis have stated that this temperature is approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Based on this information, the problem of bliah can apply when washing utensils in hot water or when two foods are cooked in the same oven. Therefore, if the product in question is created alongside another treif product, many problems could occur with regard to bliah. For instance, if the two products were baked alongside one another in the same oven, and if they then touched each other, bliah would definitely be a concern. This is just another reason why you cannot simply read the ingredients of a product and assume it is Kosher.

Finally, there is a problem with the clarity of some of the ingredients that are commonly placed in many products. An example of this would be the commonly used term “natural flavors.” The Code of Federal Regulations includes in its definition of “natural flavors” such items as “plant material, meat, seafood, [and] poultry.” In other words, the term “natural flavors” can be used to describe anything ranging from such an innocuous item as banana to items as problematic as ground pork, beaver meat, or crab claws. This can be misleading – one might assume that natural flavors are only ground up fruits and vegetables. Another example of misleading ingredients are ‘stearates,’ such as the ingredients magnesium stearate and calcium stearate. These ingredients may just seem like more vitamins and minerals. In fact, stearic acid (which is the key ingredient in stearates) can come from either vegetable or animal fats. Therefore, this ingredient, which is found in many cereals and other products, may as well be treif animal fat. One chooses to rely only on the ingredients panel at his own spiritual risk.

In conclusion, one cannot assume that a food is Kosher based on its ingredients for various reasons. The first is the prohibition of bishul akum that a non-Jew is not allowed to cook a food without a Jew taking part in the process. The second is bliah, the possible transfer of taste from one treif food to a would-be kosher product. Finally, there is the problem with the lack of clarity with regard to many of the ingredients which are added to a product. Hopefully this essay has helped the reader understand why one cannot ‘judge a product by its label.’ Thankfully, since there is definitely far too much to deal with ourselves, we are privileged to have kosher supervision organizations which tell us exactly what we can and cannot eat.