Should all kosher certified foods be labeled as such, clearly, and in English?

Question

Currently, the vast majority of food products sold in American grocery stores have been examined by kosher certifiers. Those that pass can print an obscure symbol, such as a U in a circle or simply the letter "K" on the label. Those who do not recognize these symbols, or read hebrew, are unaware that the product is kosher.

Since less than 2% of the US poplation keeps kosher, the costs of this process are passed on to unwitting non-kosher consumers. Kosher activists love to trot out a tired 1975 article from the NY Times in which an unnamed source claims that the cost per unit for certification is "6.5 millionths of a cent", but this is ludicrous. At that rate the rabbis would only collect one dollar for every 6.5 BILLION units sold.

So, in all fairness, should non-kosher consumers continue to be forced to subsidize a system that in no way improves the quality of our food supply?

Not one of you answered the question. If kosher certification is good for business, then why not just stamp the product as KOSHER so that EVERYBODY will know?

Why use arcane symbols? If kosher costs a little more to produce, so what? Lots of specialty foods cost more because of the smaller markets, such as fat free, dietetic, etc. Why not just make the kosher buyers pay for the services they want and leave the rest of us alone.

BTW, the "anti-semitic" canard is getting tired, pal. It's okay to ask a simple question whether you like the subject matter or not. Get over it.

Daniel, you avoided the question too. Should kosher certified food be clearly labeled as such, and in plain English?

That's all. Yes or no?

Answer 1

Yes, it would be fine by me if they spelled out the word Kosher along with the symbol of the certifying agency. (OU, Tablet-K, Triangle CRC, or whatever). For that matter they could print the name of the person who actually did the certification. The only question would be if the manufacturer would be willing to give up that much "real estate" on the label. Kosher for Passover items usually have it spelled out in English, though a few only put a "P" next to the symbol. But even if they did spell out the word Kosher, they would still have to provide the symbol of which agency declared the product to be kosher. Without that we would have only the company's word on it being kosher. (And we don't trust big corporations.

It may be that only 2% of us keep kosher. However, the cost doesn't appear to be any more for the kosher variety of the product than for the unkosher variety. Take for example the many varieties of Bush's Baked Beans. There are at least 6 varieties for sale at my local supermarket and they all cost the same amount at the store whether on special or not. But only the Vegetarian variety is marked with the OU. If your theory was correct then the Vegetarian variety would always cost more than the other types. So it would not appear that there is any "subsidizing" going on.

The reason it doesn't cost more is because it opens that one product variety up to a much wider market share than the other varieties of the same product. To those of us who keep kosher, it is important for us to know that the Vegetarian beans were not run on the same equipment that the bacon variety was run on. Kosher Certification doesn't just cause the product to appeal to those of us who keep kosher. It also makes the product of interest to certain other groups as well. For example, without the kosher mark, many Muslims would think perhaps the product had been run on the same line as the bacon version of the product and thus would not buy it. But with the kosher mark it is the only Bush's Beans product that Muslims will buy. Likewise there are others who don't actually keep kosher but look at the OU seal as being like the UL (Underwriter's Lab) seal on electronic products. They see an OU product as somehow being "safer" or "healthier".

I'm not sure how this 1 variety of Bush's beans out of so many would constitute "the vast majority". In this case it is only 1 variety of product out of 6 carrying a kosher mark. Since we are on the topic of beans let's look at some others. S&W brand and Kuner's brand do not have any kosher marks on any of their products (I've looked and haven't found any). Safeway's house brand of beans does carry a kosher mark on some varieties, but not on all. (Triangle CRC) Kroger's house brand does not carry a kosher mark on any variety of canned beans. (I therefore tend to shop at Kroger's instead.) Obviously Van de Kamp's "Pork n Beans" does not carry a Kosher mark. In fact, if you were really checking kosher marks you would find that there are only a very limited number that are marked as being kosher. Yes, many brands of ketchup are kosher, but relatively few varieties of pickles are. Many varieties of breakfast cereal are not kosher even though there is nothing in the ingrediant list that would be obviously unkosher. So, next time you make up your grocery list, trying going to the store and actually finding kosher marks on the products that you want to buy. When you go to buy your lunchmeat see how many of those you find any kosher marks on! (Good luck!)

For more on OU Kosher certification see their website at
http://oukosher.org/

The simple K on a product does not indicate that it is certified as kosher by anyone. It just means that the manufacturer *thinks* it is kosher. They have not paid anyone to inspect their operation so no money has changed hands. But if the K is in a circle then it has been properly supervised. And obviously when you see an R in a circle it has nothing to do Rabbis, rather that is a Registered Trademark sign. For a list of valid Kosher symbols see this list:
http://www.kosherquest.org/html/Reliable_Kosher_Symbols.htm

The idea that kosher marks are a secret Jewish tax is an idea that is being promoted by La Voz de Aztlan. They are an organization which promotes illegal immigrants taking over America and turning the American Southwest into a provience of Mexico. This urban legend that they have been passing along has been debunked here:
http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/kosher.htm

Personally, it doesn't matter to me if you buy kosher or not. Obviously companies that only sell Kosher will continue to sell Kosher whether you buy it or not. Hebrew National, Best's Kosher, Aaron's Glatt Kosher, Empire Chicken, etc will all continue to exist without any help from you. I know many Gentiles that will only eat Hebrew National hotdogs just because they like the taste better even though they don't keep kosher. As to other companies that decide to pay for kosher certification, that is their choice. If they want to eliminate Jewish and Muslim consumers from buying their products, they will do so. But that is the company's business decision to make - not yours. If they stop doing kosher certification, that will open the doors to other companies to fill in that market. It is a free market.

Answer 2

It has nothing to do with the quality of the food supply, and everything to do with marketing.

People who are looking for Kosher products know what the symbols are that they must look for. A company can choose to stamp KOSHER in red ink all over their packages, if they so desire. It is a free enterprise.

I think that all of the money that is spent on advertising is wasted, because the ads maintain a system that in no way improves the quality of our food supply.

If a company wants to be certified as kosher, so as to attract that 2% of the us population who keep kosher, then it is their business. No one is forcing them to try to increase their sales. The cost of certification is probably lower, and much more effective than a marketing campaign anyway.

Answer 3

even if it's 6.5 thousandths instead of 6.5 billion, it's not a big expenditure. There are more expensive problems we have to worry about, like starting expensive wars and lowering taxes for corporations while failing to lower them equally for the people (thereby shifting the cost of a weakened government to taxpayers) and the failure of wages, especially the minimum wage, to increase with inflation.

Food labels are an important part of keeping the food industry honest, while at the same time leaving the consumer relatively free to decide what crap they put in their body. Kosher labeling is a small part and doesn't bother me in the least. While they're at it, they should require labeling on products to show what environmental and social impact their production has on the world.

Answer 4

I would disagree that it in no way improves our food supply.

Why are you afraid of food that happens to be kosher? It won't kill you. If you want to avoid kosher food, eat a lot of pork. Not the healthiest choice.

Answer 5

If you care to be Kosher you would know what the symbols mean.

Answer 6

Then they can by non-kosher items. This is thinly veiled, and I mean THINLY veiled anti-semitism...

Answer 7

Who cares if it's Pope approved