OU Hosts Annual AKO Conference
OU Kosher hosts post-Kosherfest AKO Conference to consider issues facing Kosher Organizations in their daily work.
Compatibility
An age-old adage declares, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The conventional approach to understanding the profundity of this truism is that, contrary to popular belief, life in our modern-day society resembles the life of our ancestors far more than it differs from it. Lessons gleaned from history give direction on how to proceed in the future. The Ramban called this an “inyan gadol” – a matter of paramount importance – when he commented (Bereishis 12:6): Kol ma she’ira la’avos, siman labanim, “Everything that transpired in the lives of the Patriarchs is a portent for their descendants.” The Torah is the embodiment of this reality. Its laws are as contemporary as they are timeless, and its historical accounts relating the events of thousands of years ago are ever relevant to the here and now. Times may be different, but life’s challenges and appropriate responses to those challenges, as set forth by the Torah, remain the same.
Kosher Department Leader Presents Senator Lieberman With Journal Dedicated To Memory Of His Mother
Rabbi Menachem Genack, Chief Executive Officer of the Orthodox Union Kashrut (Kosher) Department, presented Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) with a copy of the 21st and latest issue of the Department’s highly regarded journal, Mesorah. The issue is dedicated to Senator Lieberman’s mother, Marsha, who died in June.
Special Productions – Special Procedures
For many kosher agencies, handling regular productions is…regular. Once an organization has a system in place for handling plant inspections, ingredient substitutions, label changes, new equipment and production adjustments, the key is simply to maintain the status quo. That is, until a plant wishes to do a “special production”.
Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO OF OU Kosher, To Be Featured Speaker At Kosherfest, November 16
Coping with Modern Day Challenges of Kosher Food Production:
Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of the Orthodox Union Kosher Division, will be a featured speaker at the Kosherfest show, which will be held Tuesday, November 15 and Wednesday, November 16 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.
OU Launches Universal Kosher Database (UKD)
We are pleased to announce that the Universal Kosher Database (UKD), a new and powerful tool, is now available to all OU certified companies. We are certain that this groundbreaking enhancement will simplify our companies’ kosher programs and provide them with important options that were not previously available. The UKD contains a record of tens of […]
Why Must You Always Check For Kosher Certification, Even On Products You Know Well?
Why must you always check for kosher certification, even on products you know well?
Good & Sweet Year (Honey, Corn Syrup & Other Sweeteners)
In the times of Chazal, honey was the substance that symbolized sweetness. There may have been several reasons for this, but one of them is certainly that honey was the sweetener that was available in those days. In the last few centuries honey was dethroned by sugar as the most popular sweetener in most of the world, and in the last few years even sugar has been challenged as the king of sweeteners. In food science laboratories around the world, chemists are bent on developing sweeteners that have low or no calories, have absolutely no deleterious effect on one’s health, are odorless and, like sugar, taste geshmak . Some of these are natural and some are artificial. A few of them involve real kashrus concerns.
New Food Safety Program: Independent Certification Program For Gluten-Free Food Processing
The Gluten Intolerance Group® is pleased to announce our gluten-free food certification program, the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO), the first program of its kind in the world! This new independent food processing inspection program will verify that food products meet the highest standards for gluten-free ingredients and a safe processing environment. Food products meeting these high standards will receive our GF certification mark, allowing gluten-free consumers to easily identify foods that are free of gluten and possible cross-contamination from gluten.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, On Visit To OU, Hails Accomplishments Of Kashrut Division
On a visit to the United States, Rabbi Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, accepted an invitation from Rabbi Menachem Genack, Chief Executive Officer of OU Kosher, to visit the Kosher Division and to learn about how it certifies more than 400,000 products in 83 countries around the world.
