The "Kosher Tax" Hoax
nizkor.vex.net
Attacks on the labeling of food with the symbols for
_kashruth_ (traditional Jewish dietary laws) have been a
standard ploy of anti-Jewish bigots in the U.S. for decades.
Such symbols as [encircled U], emblem of the Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations (UOJC), among others, confirm that
products are kosher -- i.e., that foods and production
processes have been inspected by competent rabbis from the
respective organizations and found to be in compliance with
Jewish dietary law.
The cost to the consumer for this service is a miniscule
fraction of the total production overhead; it is so negligible
in practical terms as to be virtually non-existent. A May 18,
1975 New York _Times_ article reported that the cost to
General Foods' "Bird's Eye" Unit, for example, is 6.5
millionths (.0000065) of a cent per item. Furthermore, a
representative of the Heinz Company has said that the per item
cost is "so small we can't even calculate it," and that such
labeling actually makes products less costly by increasing the
market for them.
Indeed, according to marketing manager Steven Zamichow, quoted
in the Washington _Post_, "Entenmann's Inc. received kosher
certification in 1981 and sales of [its] baked goods
'increased substantially.'" Visits to the Entenmann's plant,
from a "mashgiach," or kashruth inspector, are provided by the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The UOJC is
one of several groups that maintain such a kosher inspection
service, certifying foods and related products to be in
compliance with Jewish dietary laws through all phases of
production. The profit from these products goes, of course, to
the companies that manufacture them and the stores that sell
them, not to "the Jews."*
The Lies
The most active right wing extremist sources of the "kosher
tax" hoax are various Ku Klux Klan groups and the National
States Rights Party, KKK - that would be David Duke's old organization, wouldn't it.
Interesting - observant Moslems in the US eat kosher - their dietary laws are similar to orthodox Judaism's. |
