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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
Monday, December 22, 2008
I had the opportunity to meet Ben Zion Chroman many times in Beijing on Shabbos during the past two years. I always will remember his intense concentration and kavana in his tefillah, especially Shmoneh Esrei. At the Shabbos meals he just loved to sing the Carlebach niggunim. His favorite melody was "Kol haolam kulo gesher tzar me’od, ve-haikar lo lefached kla," meaning "This world is just but a narrow bridge and there is nothing to fear." He would start singing in a very low melodious voice, which would get louder and stronger as he repeated those words with such emotion from the depth of his neshama, getting all present at the table to join in with him.
It was apparent to me that he loved all Jews even though he was a Bobover chassid with a streimel. Rabbi Teitelbaum, who used to sit opposite him at the Shabbos table, would be enthralled by his chaver’s sweet voice and join in as well with all the niggunim. It so happens that I grew up in Far Rockaway, NY, where I davened in Kehilas Yaakov by the Sulitzer Rebbi, the grandfather of Rabbi Teitlebaum, and where my parents still daven. I am sure that both kedoshim gave their lives while singing "ve-ha-ikar lo le-fached kla.”
Hashem yinakem damam…
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