Down in Old Kentucky, OU Certified Bluegrass Dairy Hits the Finish Line First at the Kentucky State Fair
In what may be considered the Kentucky Derby of cheese competitions, OU kosher-certified cheese manufactured by Bluegrass Dairy & Food/Glasgow Division of Glasgow and Springfield, KY recently won first place gold in all three classes at the Kentucky State Fair for its Natural Cheddar (Wilderness Trails brand) and its Natural Gouda (Bluegrass Dairy & Food […]
At Twin Rivers Technologies, OU Kosher Glycerin is Now in Production
Twin Rivers Technologies was founded in 1994 by Jim Ricci. With his background in energy, Mr. Ricci had built and owned “waste to energy” incinerators for several years in the North Shore area of Massachusetts. In 1994, Mr. Ricci was looking to expand his involvement in the energy industry with biodiesel production. The technology at […]
All in a Day’s Work (Actually Many Days): Twin Rivers and Kosherization
All in a Day’s Work (Actually, Many Days): Twin Rivers and OU Kosher Rabbis Make a Very Complex Kosherization a Reality
Good News for Gluten-Free Consumers: Now You Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!
Although it’s a well-known truth that “man cannot live by bread alone,” only in recent years has the food industry discovered that many people can’t even subsist on bread. According to the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), over two million Americans (one out of every 133) suffer from celiac sprue disease, an autoimmune disorder marked by […]
Gluten-Free Flour Power: Celiac Sufferer Helps Others by Helping Herself
In 1999, Jules Shepard of Catonsville, MD, was diagnosed with celiac disease. An avid baker, she perused gluten-free cookbooks, hoping to return to a nearly normal diet. She found that the recipes relied predominantly on rice flour, often yielding dry and crumbly results. Shepard decided to experiment with other gluten-free flours. She bought a variety […]
Why Food Matters
You know that what you eat you are, But what is sweet now, turns so sour– We all know Obla-Di-Obla-Da But can you show me, where you are?.. Savoy Truffle George Harrison The Beatles We all eat to live but the vast majority of us truly live to eat. We think about what we will […]
At Kingsburg Orchards, Kosher Coatings Make Their Fruits Peachy Keen
An OU employee, let’s call him Chaim, recently called me during his recent trip out west. “Rabbi,” he asked, “I’m standing here in the produce section of a Walmart in Nevada. And I see peaches that have a sticker with an OU on it. Is this for real?” “Yes,” I replied, knowing that we had […]
It’s Anchovy Time
For generations, shoppers used to greet the grocer with the same refrain, “What’s in season?” Season means little to today’s consumer, save for the difference in price. After all, modern technology can keep apples fresh until the next fall; tomatoes on demand in the winter; and who remembers clementines as a December treat anymore? Well […]
Dear Rabbi… What are the Requirements to Have My Tanker Trailers OU-Certified?
Dear ____: Thank you for your interest in OU kosher certification of your tanker vessels. Kosher products can potentially lose their kosher status if stored in vessels without kosher status, hence the requirement for kosher verification of tanker transports. The kosher verification program of tankers involves the designation and dedication of tankers for kosher use. […]
OUKosher.org: World-Wide Window to OU KOSHER
Now that the Internet has made the expression “information at your fingertips” an ever-present reality, OU Kosher views it as an every-second opportunity. “As the world’s largest and most respected kosher certification agency, we can now educate the world at large about what kosher represents,” says Rabbi Eliyahu Safran, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator and Vice President, […]