WHAT DOES KOSHER MEAN ? (I'm doing this job for the summer and da customers keep asking me if its kosher).

Answer 1

Friend, Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Hebrew term kashér, meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law). The equivalent for Muslims, as per Islam, is Halal food.

Answer 2

Wow...that's a big, long subject...here's an easy way to tell:Store-bought foods can be identified as kosher by the presence of a hechsher (plural hechsherim), a graphical symbol that indicates that the food has been certified as kosher by a rabbinical authority. (This might be an individual rabbi, but is more often a rabbinic organization.) One of the most common symbols in the United States is the "OU", a U inside a circle, standing for the Union of Orthodox Congregations (or "Orthodox Union"). Many rabbis and organizations, however, have their own certification mark, and the other symbols are too numerous to list.

A solitary K is sometimes used as a symbol for kosher, but as this symbol cannot be trademarked (the method by which other symbols are protected from misuse) in the United States, it does not indicate anything other than the fact that the company producing the food considers it to be kosher.

Answer 3

Kosher is an old Hebrew word meaning 'clean' or 'fit to eat'.

In the Old Testament, when Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, he went up to Mt. Sinai and got 'The Law' from God. It started with the Ten Commandments but there like 650 rules all in all. Many of them were about what you could and couldn't eat. Pork was out. No fish unless it had both fins and scales (i.e. no shellfish). Can't eat the hindquarters of any animal. Can't eat meat with milk at the same meal. etc etc. There were even rules about how animals were to be slaughtered--as quickly and painlessly as possible, and all the blood drained out, 'cos you couldn't eat blood either.

All these rules were thought to have good reasons healthwise. Blood can get contaminated. Pork can have trichinosis, etc. etc. Food that is not kosher is called 'treyf'.

Today there are organizations of Jewish rabbis who certify food as kosher. The UAHC is the original one (United Association of Hebrew Congregations, I think), but now there are others. They send a guy to your factory to make sure it's clean and that you're using only the right ingredients. If you see a 'U' in a circle on a can or jar of food, that's their certification that the food is Kosher. It is also certified as 'meat', 'dairy' or 'parve', which means it may be eaten with either one.

Also meat must be processed with salt, which is called 'koshering'--and that's what 'kosher salt' is. The meat is covered with salt, like snow, and allowed to sit for a few minutes, then rinsed off. This kills bacteria! But Jews have been doing it for literally thousands of years, so how did they know that then?

Also if you see 'kosher' on dill pickles, it means there's garlic in the pickling solution. Don't ask me why, that's just what it means. 8^)

Answer 4

Some Basics
Real Kosher is prepared on different dishes from non Kosher food, so the food is probably not prepped kosher, but the food might be.
No pork. (Cloven Foot)
No shellfish, shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, lobster etc. To be fish it must have "fins and scales". Immiatation crab can be ok, it's Pollack fish.
No milk and meat together. No cheeseburgers, no sushi with fish and creamcheese, no chicken cordon bleu.
Frush fruit, veggies and fish are safe bets.
Hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 5

It means that it meets the dietary standards of rabbinic law. Generally this means: no pork, no shellfish (shrimp, clams, oysters, crab, etc.), and no combination of meat and dairy in the meal.

However, people observe different levels of keeping kosher, so some people also pay careful attention to how the animals were slaughtered, where or how the food is prepared, etc.

wikipedia has a nice description if you want more detail.

Answer 6

Food guidelines for strict/traditional jewish people.

Certain animals may not be eaten at all. This restriction includes the flesh, organs, eggs and milk of the forbidden animals.
Of the animals that may be eaten, the birds and mammals must be killed in accordance with Jewish law.
All blood must be drained from the meat or broiled out of it before it is eaten.
Certain parts of permitted animals may not be eaten.
Fruits and vegetables are permitted, but must be inspected for bugs
Meat (the flesh of birds and mammals) cannot be eaten with dairy. Fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables and grains can be eaten with either meat or dairy. (According to some views, fish may not be eaten with meat).
Utensils that have come into contact with meat may not be used with dairy, and vice versa. Utensils that have come into contact with non-kosher food may not be used with kosher food. This applies only where the contact occurred while the food was hot.
Grape products made by non-Jews may not be eaten.
There are a few other rules that are not universal.

Taken from:
http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm

Answer 7

Kosher food is simply prepared in accordance with Jewish Law. There ARE food blessings, but that has nothing to do with whether the food is kosher or not.

Answer 8

probably if they are bothering to ask, it means that they want to know if you have a letter from a rabbi that is signed and says that eveything is Kosher (no dairy products and meat together, the ingredients have the proper symbols meaning that they were watched by a Rabbi while they were made to make sure that they are Kosher) Ask your boss how to answer this question.

Answer 9

prepared according to kashruth, the Jewish dietary law.
In NY I woulda thought you would know...if you have serious kosher customers, get your boss to show you, because if you mix up the kosher with the non-kosher, you will have some unhappy customers!

Answer 10

kosher means it has to be approved by a rabbi. most products in packaging if it is kosher has a k or u in a circle.

o yeah these foods are automaticall NOT kosher, some people dont know but also, if its pork, made form pork, ham, shell fish, bacon (basically anything from a pig), or if any meat or cheese product mixed NOT kosher.

it depends how kosher these people are, if they wont let it touch or stuff, but best look at the packaging.

also, if you are not the owner, talk to them, they might know.
and dont lie about it if you dont know say "i dont know"