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Why the world's best known brands choose the OU for Kosher certification

Kosher for Consumers

Useful articles and interesting information about Keeping Kosher and Kosher Supervision.

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    Category: Practical Kashruth

  • What’s going on with the “bugs” in the fish?

    Rabbi Chaim Goldberg

  • Fish and Meat

    Rabbi Eli Gersten

    The Gemara Pesachim (76b) teaches that one may not cook fish and meat together since this combination is considered a sakana. Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 116:2-3) adds that one may not even eat meat after fish or fish after meat unless one eats and drinks in between1. Rama adds that one should not cook open meat and fish in the same oven because of raicha (aroma), though bidieved we say that raicha lav milsa. Magen Avrohom (O.C. 173:1) questions whether this sakana still exists today, however the minhag is still to be machmir.

  • Canned Salmon FAQ’s

    Rabbi Chaim Goldberg

    A series of questions and answers about the Kosher status of canned salmon.

  • Checking Vegetables for Insects

  • Maras Ayin and Kosher

    Rabbi Dovid Bistricer

    Walking down the supermarket aisle, we often find interesting things on the shelf. Years ago, the thought of pareve cream cheese, pareve chicken soup, vegetarian chicken nuggets, pareve ice cream, or meatless meatballs would have sounded like a frivolous joke. However, today these products and the like are in high demand and sold at kosher stores around the U.S. and abroad. The pareve market, for example, has become increasingly popular in recent years and food companies have actively pursued innovative ways to create pareve versions of products traditionally assumed to be milichig or fleishig. Nevertheless, a product might be perfectly 100% kosher and still be subject to scrutiny vis-à-vis the Shulchan Aruch. Let us briefly examine the issue of maris ayin, the way that it affects modern day kashrus supervision, and the food we bring into our homes.

  • Transitioning Traditional Kosher Brands to the Mainstream

    Gayle Schindler

    Last year more than 3,200 new foods products were certified kosher, according to a report by the Mintel International Group, a consumer, media and market research firm. Today’s kosher consumer looks for and finds wasabi horseradish sauce, frozen wraps and whole grain noodles on supermarket shelves.

  • General Mills Cereals

    A list of General Mills cereals, their status and their brachah.

  • Kashruth Issues of Toothpaste

    Rabbi Dovid Bistricer

  • Maror

    Rabbi Dovid Bistricer

    Whether it’s the days immediately prior to Pesach, or throughout the yom tov itself, unquestionably, we always find ourselves in a period that encompasses myriads of details. Aside from the many halachos that pertain to cleaning for yom tov and riding oneself of possessing chometz, Pesach is also a time where one directly encounters many standard and unique kashrus sheilos. It is obviously impossible to thoroughly addresses even a few of the kashrus issues that are relevant to this special time. This article will specifically focus on the selection and preparation of maror.

  • Mission Not Impossible: The Kosher Jew in a Non-Kosher Milieu

    Rabbi Eliyahu W. Ferrell

    It is well-known that when Robert A. Heinlein entitled his most famous novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” he adopted a phrase from the book of Exodus. Very often, the kosher consumer feels like a stranger in a strange land. Whether it’s an executive in a hotel during a business trip, or a Ba’al Teshuvah in his parents’ home, kosher consumers must sometimes navigate their way in a nonkosher kitchen. The purpose of this presentation is to offer some points of guidance to those faced with such challenges.

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