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Thursday, March 12, 2009
Since 2006, the Orthodox Union has been calming frazzled nerves and answering questions on everything from cleaning to cooking inspired by one of the most enjoyable – but also the most intricate and complex to prepare for – Jewish holidays, Passover. The OU does this by creating a Passover website that can be found at http://www.oupassover.org.
The website, which was recently updated for 2009, is a one-stop shop for all Passover-related queries. Subjects range from recipe substitutions and cleaning tips, to kosherizing household items for Passover and the proper amounts of the traditional food and wine that must be consumed at the seder.
Popular features that have returned from previous years include a fully downloadable Passover Guide, which sorts all the various products, both edible and household items, into two sections of those allowed on Passover and those not kosher for Passover; an expansive database of all OU Kosher for Passover products; and a section of frequently asked questions and answers of common Passover food inquiries.
Brand-new for 2009 is a section on Birchat ha-Chammah (a blessing over the sun said every 28 years, and one that is said this erev (eve of)Pesach, April 8); additional information expanded from previous years on caring for infants and the infirm; new feature articles about dieting on Passover and cleaning for Passover, such as “Pesach Dieters, Take Note! You Can Have Your Potato – and Eat It Too,” by nutritionist Shira Isenberg; and “The Chef’s Table: Healthy Passover Pleasures,” by cookbook author Norene Gilletz. There will also be articles on wine, traditional seder items, and matzah, such as “From Grapes to Kosher Wine,” by Rabbi Shmuel Singer, OU Rabbinic Coordinator, and “What Could be Hiding in My Romaine?” by Rabbi Dovid Bistricer, OU Rabbinic Coordinator.
The website is managed by Rabbi Yonaton Kaganoff, OU Rabbinic Coordinator.
“Passover is a wonderful, but also incredibly detailed, holiday,” declared Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher. “The OU Passover website clarifies many issues of concern regarding proper preparation and observance of the Festival, while also providing informative and enjoyable features on various aspects of the holiday. The website is a wonderful resource for the entire Jewish community.”
For more information visit http://www.oupassover.org.
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
As part of its practice of providing a full range of services to its certified companies, OU Kosher has announced that it will recommend Organic National & International Certifiers (ON & IC) of Lincolnwood, IL to its client companies who are seeking certification that their products are not only kosher, but organic as well.
Organic food must adhere to standards of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which require that crops be grown without synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilizers, biotechnology or radiation. Among other standards, there are also requirements for the feed given to animals on organic farms and how the animals are to be confined. Organic foods, therefore, can be said to provide a more healthful diet than standard foods while being more environmentally friendly.
The demand for organic products has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years, and ON & IC has proven to be a reliable and respected certifier in its field, just as the OU is in kosher certification.
The agreement is not the first in which the OU has reached out to a certifying agency in another field related to food production – in 2005 it entered into a relationship with the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) to certify that products do not contain storage proteins found in grains such as wheat, rye and barley – a necessity for people on gluten-free diets.
Now it is organic’s turn.
“For a long time, it’s been clear that the kosher consumer and the organic consumer share a lot of overlap and that many companies that are seeking kosher certification are seeking organic certification, and vice versa,” declared Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher, who was instrumental in bringing the arrangement to fruition. “Organic certification is clearly a field of expertise – you cannot grant organic certification unless licensed by the federal government to do so.”
Consequently, unlike the situation with GFCO in which OU rabbinic field representatives also provide gluten-free certification, only USDA accredited staff of ON & IC at present will be doing the certifying. The OU’s role will be to direct its clients to the company.
“In order to help service our clients who are seeking this certification to market their products, we entered into a relationship with the group which has the know-how to offer this service to companies,” Rabbi Elefant declared. “We will recommend them to our clients who want organic certification as a good organization to work with.”
Among the companies currently certified by ON & IC are Qtrade Teas & Herbs, one of the largest importers of organic teas in the United States; Setton Farms, a full service provider of quality gourmet snacks; Interbake Foods, one of the largest manufacturers of wafers in the United States; and several of the Del Monte fresh produce plants.
According to Marketing Director Pearl Siegel, ON & IC chose to work with the OU because “we were looking for a kosher certification agency with a reputation for the highest quality and with a substantial list of client companies. Of course, the OU was a perfect fit. Despite their size,” she added, “they are cooperative, easy to deal with, and gave every indication that our working relationship would be would be extremely productive.”
According to ON & IC, its mission and goals are:
• To provide organic certification to processors, handlers, growers, livestock brokers, traders, distributors, retailers and private label entities that want to be in conformity with USDA rules and regulations;
• To assist in the growth of public acceptance and demand for organic products; and
• To assist in making organic products freely available to the general public.
According to Rabbi Elefant, the relationship “provides an opportunity to work together to reduce redundancy and costs. If we see it is beneficial to the companies, we will jointly train our rabbinic field representatives to be accredited by USDA,” and thereby to handle certifications, just as they perform the gluten-free certifications now.
For companies needing further information on ON & IC and organic foods, contact Pearl Siegel at , or 847-763-0218.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A newly redesigned feature to help the kosher consumer easily locate OU certified products has just made its debut on http://www.oukosher.org. With more than 400,000 products certified by the OU, the feature uses the OU’s technical wizardry to find just what the consumer is looking for, in categories ranging from acids and acidulants to wrapping materials and paper goods. The website is automatically updated daily to keep up with the OU’s newly certified products.
The original product search averaged some 3,000 hits a month over a period of more than two years of existence. Now it is faster and easier to use and is expected to be even more heavily utilized than the old site. The previous version was harder to search with less search criteria. Now it uses a more state of the art, quicker, more user-friendly technology and additional search filters that were not previously available.
“The new product search brings an unprecedented ease in searching for OU certified products,” explained Rabbi Yonatan Kaganoff, OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator, who oversaw the project. “Consumers can easily search for products using a variety of categories and criteria. This will help consumers worldwide find the kosher products that they are looking for as well as confirm that that OU Kosher products that they see at their local supermarkets are indeed certified OU Kosher. Sometimes consumers see a new product bearing an OU symbol or product bearing an OU symbol for the first time and want to make certain that the symbol is accurate. The newer, faster product search will allow them to consume these products without concern.”
The OU Kosher website is divided into company and consumer sections; the product database is a highlight of the consumer area. The feature enables the consumer to search by product, such as mayonnaise; by brand; and by dozens of categories. The searcher can also use a variety of “filters” – meat, dairy, pareve, consumer, industrial, Pas Yisroel, and Cholov Yisroel – to narrow the search. For example, there are 1171 pareve varieties of OU mayonnaise on the site, compared with 17 dairy. A range of information is provided about each product, such as company and brand name; status as meat, dairy or pareve; and any special information regarding the product, such as how it should be shipped.
Can’t find the product you are looking for? An additional feature enables the consumer to recommend that product for OU certification. All in all, it’s a tidy package for the benefit of the kosher consumer.
“This is another step in our ongoing quest to service the kosher consumer to avail themselves of the wide variety of OU certified products,” declared Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher.
The newly revised product search can be found at the following URL: http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/product_search
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