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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
When the world’s largest annual food science exposition convened in Las Vegas in July, the Orthodox Union Kosher Department was well represented. The OU was among 800 exhibitors displaying their wares for the 20,000 attendees at the 2004 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo, held from July 12-16 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“This is one of the most important ingredient shows in the world and it is extremely important for the OU to be represented there,” stated Rabbi Gad Buchbinder, Director of Development for OU Kosher. “Our knowledge and experience will be available for exhibitors and attendees alike.”
“Food science” deals in great part with ingredients, a field in which the OU has enormous expertise. In order for food to be kosher, every ingredient — whether natural or produced by food chemists — must be kosher. The OU maintains a registry, which is continually being updated, of more than 250,000 ingredients. A newly created flavor, for example may have 100 separate ingredients, according to Rabbi Nathan Neuberger, Co-Director of the OU Flavor Department, in an article about flavors he wrote for the Winter 2004 issue of Behind the Union Symbol, the magazine of OU Kosher.
“Such submissions (of ingredients from flavor companies) generate so much work than an entire staff of able food analysts works full-time to be sure that all OU flavors will be kosher,” Rabbi Neuberger continued. “Each ingredient submitted is reviewed and checked with our database. If the ingredient does not exist on the database, or if a new source is listed for a previously-used ingredient, a review is done to see whether the new ingredient is acceptable.”
This kind of expertise was displayed in Las Vegas by the OU delegation.
The IFT Expo was attended by “all of the major ingredients players,” including manufacturers of ingredients and manufacturers who want to know what new ingredients are available,” explained Rabbi Buchbinder. The OU brought its “major players” as well, including Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of OU Kosher; ingredients experts Rabbi Chaim Goldzweig of Chicago and Rabbi Abraham Juravel of the OU’s National office in New York; and Rabbi Buchbinder.
“Our ingredients experts are not just OU experts. They are experts, period,” Rabbi Buchbinder declared.
The Expo, said Rabbi Buchbinder, “serves as an opportunity to contact OU certified companies who will be in attendance and to discuss with them any issues they may have. The show also enables us to explain our services to other companies and how achieving kosher certification from the OU, given the enormous growth in the kosher industry, can strengthen their business.”
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Recently, an e-mail diatribe about the so-called “Kosher Tax” has been widely disseminated through the Internet. Various racist and anti-Semitic right-wing extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, have circulated this misinformation for decades. Today, these fraudulent claims have been co-opted by terrorist organizations as well. The allegations are total nonsense and a complete distortion of the truth.
The “Kosher Tax” memo is patterned after other classical anti-Semitic works, such as the “Secret Annals of the Protocols of Zion”. Both the “Protocols of Zion” and the “Kosher Tax” plant seeds of fear by suggesting there is a secret Jewish conspiracy spearheaded by a small group of Jews who wield enormous influence over world affairs. The “Kosher Tax” makes the ludicrous accusation that a powerful syndicate of Rabbis extorts exorbitant fees from food manufacturers by threatening a crippling boycott of companies who do not comply. These “blackmail” fees are passed on to the unsuspecting consumer in the way of higher food charges.
The reality is that food manufacturers voluntarily seek kosher certification as an important and effective marketing tool. A kosher symbol signals that the product is suitable for consumption by Jews, Moslems, Seventh Day Adventists and lactose intolerant individuals, all who have special dietary requirements. In addition, many consumers view the kosher symbol as an independent verification of quality.
The retail cost of a food product is generally not increased by kosher supervision. The decision to seek kosher certification is based on market research and an evaluation that it is in the company’s best financial interest to enter into a supervisory program. The modest cost associated with kosher supervision is a miniscule fraction of the total production expenditure, and is offset by the often-significant increase in profit resulting from expanded sales. In addition, many production and distribution costs are fixed. When the volume of sales increases, the overhead cost per unit decreases. The bottom line is that kosher supervision brings in greater revenue, and allows companies to reduce the price of their wares, if they so desire.
The Orthodox Union, the largest supervisory agency, is a non-profit organization, which provides kosher supervision as a service to consumers. The revenue generated by the certification program is used to cover supervisory costs, as well as support a wide range of social services.
The current dissemination of the “Kosher Tax” lie reflects once again that those who seek to achieve evil goals through the use of terror are neither bound by truth, integrity or moral values.
For further reading, see this link: http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/kosher.htm
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