Feature
From Greece to America: Serenata Chocolates
Greece is not well known as a manufacturer of premium chocolate products, but that’s all about to change here in the U.S. with the OU Kosher certified Serenata™ brand of chocolate wafers. For over 50 years, the family enterprise Tottis-Bingo s.a. has been manufacturing these iconic chocolate wafers for their home market in Greece, in […]
Curtice Brothers: A Condiment Startup Takes On the Giants
OU Kosher: I’d like to start by asking you for a general overview of Curtice Brothers and about you and your role as head of international sales. Curtice Brothers History Alex Fisher: Curtice Brothers makes organic and natural condiments. The company actually started in 1868, and we are proud to say that we are the […]
Is Lab-Grown Meat Kosher? OU Kosher CEO Rabbi Menachem Genack Discusses in Washington Post, Other Media Outlets
As food technologies develop, so do new halachic issues. In recent days, OU Kosher CEO Rabbi Menachem Genack has taken on questions about whether lab-grown meat, created from animal stem cells, is kosher. While Israel’s Chief Rabbi David Lau recently declared it kosher pareve, Rabbi Genack disagrees. Read more in a front-page piece in The […]
Orthodox Union Teaches Laws of Kosher to Houston Jewish Community
Visit Educates 500 People; Includes Demonstration, Fireside Chat and Presentations The Orthodox Union (OU) recently concluded an educational event in Houston, Texas. Kashrus experts taught about the laws of kosher to more than 500 community members and students. OU Kosher Managing Director Rabbi Eli Eleff and Rabbinic Coordinators Rabbi Chaim Goldberg and Rabbi Chaim Loike […]
OU Kosher Hosts Conference to Show Appreciation for Mashgichim in Israel
Israel’s Prominent Rabbis, OU Kosher CEO and COO Thank Mashgichim with Luncheon On January 16, the Orthodox Union (OU) held a kashrus conference in Israel for the mashgichim in its network. Some of Israel’s most prominent rabbis also attended, as well as OU Kosher rabbis and OU board members. The goal of the conference was […]
GE Appliances Completes Transition of Refrigerators to OU Kosher/CRC Certification
Top-Freezer Refrigerators Will Now be Certified with Built-in Enhanced Shabbos Mode through Collaboration between Kosher Certifying Agencies and Zman Technologies GE Appliances (GEA) has begun production of a new line of OU Kosher/CRC Hisachdus–certified top-freezer refrigerators with manually operated, built-in Enhanced Shabbos Mode (ESM). These new appliances will allow users to easily turn ESM […]
What Kosher, Vegan and Plant-Based Label Claims Really Mean
“Dairy-free”, “non-dairy”, “plant-based”, “kosher”, and “Vegan” labeling are all voluntary label claims, and while the FDA has no meaningful regulation for these meaningful marketing claims, OU kosher and BeVeg Vegan certification standards exist to clear consumer confusion. It would seem that dairy-free and non-dairy, Vegan, and kosher pareve mean a product has no dairy, right? […]
How Chickpeas Went From a Dream to Pareve Yogurt
Noam Sharon was a corporate and securities lawyer in Israel before he began working on the idea that would become CHKP Foods, a company that makes OU kosher pareve yogurt from chickpeas. It wasn’t as radical a move as it may sound, given that hummus was an essential part of his diet growing up […]
Kosher Chocolate Mystery and an OU Rabbi
I once visited a U.S. company that manufactured both dairy and pareve kosher-certified chocolate. This is what the process looked like. They start off putting dry, powdered ingredients like sugar and cocoa powder through a refiner, which is a series of rollers that crush the powder to make it even finer, each successive roller grinding […]
How the OU Is Helping in Ukraine
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February, OU Kosher, in close contact with the Jewish community there, began coordinating relief efforts. Over the past month, food shipments and fundraising efforts have helped provide the Jewish people of Ukraine with food, transportation and evacuation, hotels and shelters, medical supplies, resettlement and more. […]