OU Kosher Staff

OU Kosher Announces Second Annual Essay Contest for Grades 4-12

It’s baaaaaak! The Second Annual OU Kosher Essay Contest for Grades 4-12, building upon the success of the First Annual Event, is now open for entries from students across North America, with the deadline for submissions being March 7, 2008.

Corn Snacks

Corn is one of the most versatile food substances found in nature. It has a wide variety of uses in the food industry as well as many other non-food uses such as ethanol for automobiles. There are a number of different types of corn. Today the primary types used in the USA are flint, dent, sweet corn and popcorn. Sweet corn is grown primarily for human consumption either on the cob or for further processing. Dent corn is the largest commercial corn. It is used for animal feed as well as for corn masa (corn flour treated with lime.) With the abundance of corn in the USA it is no surprise that there are numerous corn-based snacks produced throughout the country. Some of these snacks predate the formation of the United States. In fact one of the worlds oldest snack foods is popcorn. Others such as the cheese curl are relatively new as this was first produced in the 1930s Today, corn based snacks provide a wide range of products for consumers. While the base material is obviously kosher, there are a number of issues that arise in the kosher certification of corn-based snacks.

OU Kosher is Coming to Edmonton, Canada: OU Rabbis and Family Shul Present “Yeshiva for a Day”

On November 28, 2007, OU Kosher is coming to Edmonton to participate in the annual “Yeshiva for a Day” seminar, presented by the Beth Israel Congregation Family Shul and Edmonton Jewish General Education (EDJGE). The visit is part of the program OU Kosher Is Coming…, in which the Orthodox Union dispatches its OU Kosher rabbis far and wide to educate kosher consumers wherever they may dwell.

The Complex Story of Pareve Orange Juice

Many consumers would be quite surprised to know that the pareve-certified orange juice and iced tea that they enjoy are often manufactured on dairy equipment, and that this equipment was kashered to be rendered pareve for the production of these beverages. The fact is that the pasteurization and filling equipment used in dairies for milk is ideal for all types of drinks, and dairy factories therefore frequently produce a wide variety of non-dairy beverages. There are actually very few types of pareve beverages that can be assumed to be manufactured exclusively in pareve plants; fruit juice, punch, iced tea and coffee, plus lemonade – whether made as ‘national’ brands or as ‘heimishe’, Jewish brands – are all prone to be processed on dairy equipment which was kashered under the supervision or direction of a kashrus agency.

Rav Asher Weiss Inaugurates New Harry H. Beren ASK OUtreach Program

In the inaugural program of the most recent initiative of OU Kosher in the field of kashrut education, senior rabbis from OU Kosher welcomed HaGaon HaRav Asher Weiss, Shlita, who delivered a shiur at OU headquarters in New York that encompassed a broad overview of the halachic principles that relate to the consumption of medications […]

OU KOSHER Senior Rabbi To Address Lima, Peru Conference, Nov 8

The worldwide nature of OU Kosher will be demonstrated once again on Thursday, November 8, when Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator and Vice President of Marketing and Communications of the Orthodox Union Kashrut Division, will deliver a web presentation (webinar) to a conference on the Organic and Kosher Foods Market in the United […]

OU AmCham Webinar Peru

(Lima) 26 of October 2007.- The American Chamber of Commerce of Peru (Amcham Peru) announces the following two day seminar “The Organic and Kosher Foods Market in the United States”, which will take place the 7th and 8th of November from 6:00 a 8:30 p.m., in the offices of AmCham Peru (Av. Ricardo Palma 836 – Miraflores, Lima- Peru).

Milk Products

Milk is the most basic source of all that is dairy. Milk is also pretty basic from a kashrus perspective; so long as it is not cholov beheimah temei’ah (milk from a non-kosher species) or cholov akum (milk which is unsupervised or of unverified origin), milk is always kosher. Thus, most dairy materials made directly from milk would appear to be simple from a kashrus standpoint.

OU Kosher Senior Rabbi To Address Food Ingredients Conference In London, Oct 31

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator and Vice President of Marketing and Communications at OU Kosher, based in New York, will cross the pond later this month to speak on “The Growing Kosher Market,” at the Fi (Food Ingredients) Europe Conference 2007, to be held in London October 30-November 1.

Microscope

We live in a world of technological advancements. How we approach new inventions, medical procedures etc., and their impact on halacha can be highly complicated and very confusing. We have therefore been blessed from one generation to the next with Gedolei Yisroel whose broad shoulders have borne the responsibility to address these types of issues. This article will focus on a not-so-recent technological advancement, but one that nevertheless has been discussed quite extensively by poskim, the microscope.