What is Kosher supervision?

Kosher supervision means that a qualified Rabbi or Rabbinic organization supervises the production of a food item to insure that the product is Kosher (prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary law).

In general, supervision focuses on two areas:

• Ingredients -

All ingredients and sub-ingredients used in a product must be Kosher.

• Equipment -

Equipment must have a Kosher status and cannot be used for both Kosher and non-Kosher production.

Supervision is established by creating a written list of Kosher ingredients that may be used in the plant and by approving the production process. A trained Rabbinic field representative visits the plant unannounced on a regular basis to verify that there have been no changes that would compromise the Kosher status.

Absolutely not. This is pure myth.

The laws of Kosher are based on thousands of volumes of literature which were written over the past 2000 years. A Rabbi is proficient in the vast body of knowledge, and is specially trained to apply the ancient traditions of Kosher law to the contemporary situations of modern food technology.

No. Products often contain ingredients which may be Kosher or non-Kosher depending on the source of supply. For example, glycerin can be of animal or vegetable origin. Furthermore, many ingredients contain subunits which are not detailed on the ingredient panel. As an example, flavors are composed of scores of ingredients, but only the word flavor appears on the label. A flavor may contain castorium, a beaver extract or civet, a cat extract. These ingredients, which do not appear on the label, may render the entire product non-Kosher. Finally, the product may have been produced on non-Kosher equipment.

Generally, the consumer looks for a Kosher logo as a sign of supervision. There are scores of symbols in use by many different certifying agencies.

Different agencies subscribe to a wide range of standards and policies. For example, one agency may visit a manufacturing facility once a year, while another may visit a factory of comparable complexity on a monthly basis. Some agencies accept as Kosher animal derivatives which have gone through significant chemical changes, while other agencies do not accept this position.

Discerning Kosher customers will only purchase products with symbols that they recognize and trust.

"K" is a letter in the alphabet. It cannot be copyrighted and the consumer generally does not know which, if any, supervising agency is providing the supervision. Consumers who look for reliable supervision will not rely on the unknown certification of a "K" symbol.

Almost never. The actual cost of supervision is generally minimal. The increased sales which are generated by the Kosher certification program more than compensate for the additional Kosher related costs.

This is a very broad question and there is no general answer. Every Kashruth agency employs its own price structure to establish a certification fee. However, one very important factor in determining the fee is the out of pocket expenses that will be incurred during the inspection program. The actual cost of inspections depends on a number of variables, such as the distance that the inspector must travel to the plant, the mode of available transportation, the frequency of visitation that will be required, and the length of time of an average inspection. Another important consideration is the amount of administrative time that is necessary to oversee the Kosher program.

Kosher supervision opens many new marketing opportunities. These include:

• Consumers who prefer the Kosher label. Many Jews, Muslims, Seventh day Adventists and vegetarians purchase only Kosher food for religious or philosophical reasons. In addition, many health conscious consumers seek Kosher products because they view the Kosher symbol as a sign of quality.

• Private label companies who prefer to distribute Kosher products which are more marketable. They will seek out manufacturers who are supervised Kosher.

• Supermarkets who give preference to Kosher products and allot better shelf space to them.

• Food manufacturers who are certified Kosher and only purchase Kosher approved ingredients.

For 1999 the Kosher market was estimated to be 10 million Kosher consumers who spent $5 billion on Kosher food. In general, $130 billion was spent on kosher products in the year of 1999. Sales of Kosher food have been increasing at a yearly rate of 12-15 percent since 1984 (based on statistics of Integrated Marketing Communications).

Close to 400.