Jewish Kosher tax on food and beyond:.........................
"What we have stumbled upon here is a Jewish tax on food which appears to have spread throughout the kitchen to non-food items so as to become a Jewish tax on food plus kitchen products, and from there made its way to the laundry room so as to become a Jewish tax on food plus kitchen products plus laundry products, and from there metastacized to the medicine cabinet so as to become a Jewish tax on food plus kitchen products plus laundry products plus over-the-counter medications." — Lubomyr Prytulak
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What I Found in My Pantry
One hundred fifty six discoveries
I made by reading product labels
Had someone asked me a few days before 14-Dec-1999 how many products I had in my house that bore a kosher label, I would have said none. At around that time, however, I learned something about kosher labelling, and actually made a count, and was astounded to discover that my count reached 90. Yes, to my amazement, my initial screening revealed that I had in my possession 90 different products that bore a kosher label.
In the days following, I located more kosher-labelled products lying hidden throughout my house, or sometimes just the container that had been conscripted for other use. Wittingly or unwittingly, I purchased many more as well. Two were purchased by family members in Ontario. In three cases, the item was not purchased: (1) a free sample of Tide laundry detergent was left on my doorstep, (2) a package of almonds was handed to a family member on an airplane, and (3) a potato chip bag was thrown, or blew, onto my lawn. Well, OK, it had blown across my lawn and was actually just over the line on my neighbor's property stuck in his hedge when I found it — but it had a label that I had never seen before (turned out to be Winnipeg Kosher) and I had to have it for my collection. Anyway, with such additions, all but three being purchases for family use, the total was brought up to 156 on 21-Apr-2000:
Date
Count
12-Apr-2000 152
20-Apr-2000 155
21-Apr-2000 156
That is 156 different products, mostly purchased, and as any product could have been purchased many times, with some being purchased a great many times, then the total number of purchases of kosher-labelled products was much higher than 156, conceivably in excess of one thousand, but I cannot say with any accuracy as I did not keep track. And although the discovery of previously-undocumented kosher-certified products clearly levels off over time, purchase of kosher-certified products both previously documented and previously undocumented continues high.
In retrospect, I can see that a more thorough study of the nature of my kosher purchasing would have recorded the date of purchase of every kosher product, whether the brand was one that had been purchased previously or not, and would have recorded the price of each purchase as well. Some interesting graphs could have been drawn.
And it is possible also that a more dedicated monitoring on my part would have yielded a higher total of different products purchased — the dedication manifesting itself in more dependably checking packaging for a kosher label before throwing it out, and in more tenaciously hunting down the meaning of presently-unrecognized symbols, as for example the "10" enclosed inside a circle which appears on a can of Campbell's tomato soup — I emailed Campbell Soups six times, and sent a hard-copy letter once, enquiring whether this signified kosher certification, but have not yet had my question answered, and so for the time being I do not count Campbell's tomato soup as being kosher-certified:
As the smallest change in ingredients or in the manner of processing requires an independent rabbinical review and an independent certification of kosher, any variation by a producer is considered to constitute a different product — to consider just three examples, Astro Strawberry Yogurt is considered to be a different product from Astro Raspberry Yogurt, and different even from Astro Strawberries and Cream Yogurt; or Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil is considered to be a different product from Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil; or Kraft Unsweetened and Unsalted Peanut Butter is different from Kraft Light and Smooth Peanut Butter, which is different from Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter, which is different from Kraft Crunchy Peanut Butter.
The case of Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream proved unique in that it appeared to receive certification from two different kosher-accreditation agencies, the Council of Orthodox Rabbis (COR, Toronto) and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (OU, New York). Although the label for this product is shown under both categories below, it is counted only once, in the COR category.
Thus, with my participating in the purchase and consumption of the 156 kosher-certified products (in let us say approximately one thousand purchases) documented below in about four months, there can be little doubt that I am a solid member of the club of 8.5 million kosher consumers alluded to below — but if most of these kosher consumers are, like me, either unwitting or unwilling, what does this tell us about the legitimacy of the kosher-certification business, and what does it forebode for its longevity?
For 1998 the Kosher market was estimated to be 8.5 million Kosher consumers who spent $3.5 billion annually on Kosher food. In general, $45 billion was spent on kosher products in the year of 1998. Sales of Kosher food have been increasing at a yearly rate of 13-15 percent since 1992.
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From the Orthodox Union (OU) webs site at: ou.org
But why such modesty from the kosher business? In view of the pervasiveness of kosher-certified products, almost every Canadian and American must consume them, such that the number of "kosher consumers" in Canada and the United States in reality cannot be a mere 8.5 million, but could readily exceed 200 million. Another way of viewing the phenomenon, of course, is that the number of consumers paying the Jewish kosher tax in Canada and the United States, almost all of them unwittingly, exceeds 200 million.
In any case, the main kosher symbols that I found in my possession and whose origins I was able to ascertain, rank ordered from most to least frequent, were the following:
SYMBOL KOSHER-CERTIFICATION AGENCY
Council of Orthodox Rabbis
Kashruth Council of Toronto
4600 Bathurst Street, Suite 240
North York, Ontario
Canada M2R 3V2
Rabbi Mordechai Levin, Executive Director
Phone: (416) 635-9550
Fax: (416) 635-8760
Website: feduja.org
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
333 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York
USA 10001
Phone: (212) 563-4000
Fax: (212) 564-9058
Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbinic Administrator
Website: ou.org
Montreal Kosher
Montreal Vaad Hair
6333 Decarie Boulevard, Suite 100
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3W 3E1
Phone: (514) 270-2659
Fax: (514) 739-7024
Rabbi Peretz Jaffe, Rabbinic Administrator
Rabbi Saul Emanuel, Executive Director
Website: mkmontreal.org
New Jersey Kosher
Kof-K Kosher Supervision
1444 Queen Anne Road
Teaneck, NJ
USA 07666
Phone: (201) 837-0500
Fax: (201) 837-0126
Rabbi Aharon Felder, Director of Kosher Standards
Rabbi Ari Moshe Senter, Halachic Research
Rabbi Dovid Senter, Rabbi Yehuda Rosenbaum,
Rabbi Daniel Senter, Administration
Rabbi Dr. H. Zecharia Senter, Executive Administrator
Publication: Kosher Outlook Supplement
Website: kof-k.com
British Columbia Kosher
Orthodox Rabbinical Council of British Columbia
8080 Fancis Road
Richmond, British Columbia
Canada V6Y 1A4
Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum
Phone: (604) 275-0042
Fax: (604) 277-2225
Star-K Kosher
Star-K Kosher Certification
11 Warren Road Baltimore, MD
USA 21208-5234
Phone: (410) 484-4110
Fax: (410) 653-9294
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, Rabbinic Administrator
Website: star-k.org
Committee For The Furtherance of Torah Observance
The Organized Kashrus Laboratories
391 Troy Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
USA 11213
Phone: (718) 756-7500
Fax: (718) 756-7503
Rabbi Don Yoel Levy, Kashrus Administrator
Website: ok.org
Beverly Hills Kosher
Kosher Overseers Associates of America
A Division of the Orthodox Rabbinical Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 1321
Beverly Hills, CA
USA 90213
Phone: (213) 870-0011
Fax: (213) 567-4371
Rabbi Dr. I. Harlod Sharfman, Rabbinic Administrator
Rabbi Chaim Hisiger, Kashrus Coordinator
Rabbi Shalom Meir Ohana, Supervisions Administrator
Publication: Global Guide to Kosher Foods & Restaurants
Website: kosher.org
Michigan Kosher
Metropolitan Kashrut Council of Michigan
Los Angeles Kosher
Kosher Supervision of America
P.O. Box 35721
Los Angeles, CA
USA 90035
Phone: (310) 282-0444
Fax: (310) 282-0505
Rabbi Binyomin Lisbon, Kashrus Administrator
Publication: KSA Supervised Establishments
Massachusetts Kosher
Vaad Hakashrus of Massachusetts
177 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
USA 02111
Rabbi Abraham Halfinger, Rabbinic Administrator
Phone: (617) 426-2139
Fax: (617) 426-6268
Rabbi Ralbag Kosher
Rabbi Joseph H. Ralbag
225 West 86th Street
New York, NY
USA 10024
Phone: (212) 877-1823
Fax: (212) 595-7966
Winnipeg Kosher
Rabbi Peretz Weizman
VAAD HA'IR of Winnipeg, Inc.
#C306-123 Doncaster Street
Winnipeg, MB Canada R3N 2B2
Phone: (204) 487-9571
Fax: (204) 477-7405
Details concerning kosher labelling
PAREVE or PARVE (from the Yiddish, parev) accompanying a kosher symbol signifies that the product is made without milk, meat, or derivatives of milk or meat, and therefore safe to eat under all circumstances for the kosher-keeping Jew.
P stands for Passover, and indicates that the product is considered kosher throughout the year, particularly during Passover at which time more restrictive standards must be met.
DAIRY or D or the French LAIT accompanying a kosher symbol indicates that the product contains a milk derivative, so that although it may safely be eaten alone, it may not be eaten together with meat, which combination happens to be prohibited by Jewish law.
NOT CHOLOV YISROEL or NON CHOLEV YISROEL or the French PAS CHOLOV YISROEL accompanying a kosher symbol signifies that although the milk product in question is considered to be kosher, in fact there was no Jewish supervision of the milk-production process. Had the milk been produced on the farm of an observant Jew, or had the milk been produced on a non-Jewish farm but under Jewish supervision, then the milk would be considered to be Cholov Yisroel. Thus, for a milk product to be labelled kosher and yet not cholov yisroel constitutes a partial or qualified certification of kosher, which the producer could turn into a complete and unqualified certification upon the hiring of Jewish supervisors.
It follows that if a product is labelled Cholov Yisroel or Not Cholov Israel, it must contain milk, even if the words Dairy or Lait or the letter D are missing. In the box below is reproduced an excerpt from a longer discussion of Cholov Yisroel that can be found on the Star-K web site which can be accessed by clicking the Star-K logo below:
Cholov Yisroel: Does a Neshama Good
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, Rabbinic Administrator
[...]
It was common practice among farmers to mix milk of various species together, unbeknownst to their customers. Since it was conceivable to have a farm mixture of Kosher and non-Kosher milk, our Rabbis issued an injunction several thousand years ago, against the use of Cholov Akum, milk from a non-Jewish farmer. This restriction did not apply if there was supervision of the farmer by a Yehudi during the milking. The Rabbis ruled that unsupervised milk may not be used, even though most of the milk available in the area came from Kosher species and the likelihood of tampering was slim.
Our Rabbis stipulated that in order to ensure that the milk of an Akum is Kosher, a Yehudi must be present from the milking until the bottling. The Yehudi must be able to identify that the milk production has not been compromised, or that the milk has not been adulterated. The supervisor must be a G-d fearing Jew in his personal activities so that his credibility regarding Kashrus issues is beyond reproach. Milk produced under the auspices of this Mashgiach is called Cholov Yisroel.
[...]
However, other writers leave the impression that government supervision alone is sufficient to qualify milk as Cholov Yisroel. The more complete discussion from which the excerpt below is taken can be accessed by clicking on the logo. "OU," by the way, stands for "Union of Organized Jewish Congregations."
[...]
DAIRY PRODUCTS
A. Cholov Yisroel:
A Rabbinic law requires that there be supervision during the milking process to ensure that the source of the milk is from a kosher animal. Following the opinion of many rabbinic authorities, OU policy considers that in the United States, the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls are sufficiently stringent to ensure that only cow's milk is sold commercially. These Government requirements fulfill the Rabbinical requirement for supervision.
[...]
BISHUL YISROEL accompanying a kosher label signifies that Jews participated in the production of a food item, and so of course NON BISHUL YISROEL signifies that there is no guarantee that Jews so participated. Non Bishul Yisroel, therefore, is the second instance that we have seen of a partial or qualified certification of kosher, with the hiring of Jewish employees being required to make the kosher certification complete and unqualified.
It is a curiousity (which happens not be be manifested in the collection of kosher labels below) that a food product can be Bishul Yisroel (produced with the participation of Jews) and yet not be kosher.
We can imagine that the analogous certification in the hands of other groups might lead to supermarket attestations such as "Genuine Italians participated in the making of this pizza" or "Pure Germans were employed in the production of this strudel" or "Certified Chinese contributed toward the creation of this chop suey" or "Some real Ukrainians helped make these perogies." Reading the excerpt below, furthermore, calls to mind that if other groups followed the Jewish lead, then we might see Germans prohibited from eating any food produced by non-Germans, and the same for Italians, Chinese, and Ukrainians:
[...]
No Jew — S'faradi or Ashkenazi is allowed to eat a food product that is produced by BISHUL ACU"M (food cooked exclusively by a non-Jew). The OU does not certify any product that has a BISHUL ACU"M problem. Exactly what foods fall under the ban of BISHUL ACU"M and what constitutes BISHUL YISRAEL when required are complex issues. Food that can be eaten raw, may be cooked by a non-Jew and is not subject to the ban on BISHUL ACU"M. Nor is a product that requires further cooking. Nor is a food that does not "go onto the table of kings." These exemptions from the ban on BISHUL ACU"M are the same for S'faradim and Ashkenazim. (There is somethings a dispute among poskim as to what does and does not go onto the table of kings, but that's another story.)
Where Ashkenazim and S'faradim differ in this issue is concerning what a Jew has to do in order for the food to be BISHUL YISRAEL. Ashkenazim follow the RAMA who says that if a Jew does ANYTHING in the processing — lights the fire or turns on the machinery, for example — then the product is considered BISHUL YISRAEL and is permitted. S'faradim follow the M'CHABER (Rav Yosef Caro) who requires a Jew to actually put the food on the fire (or into the machines) in order for there not to be a BISHUL ACU"M.
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