Feature
Color Additives and Kashrus
The following article is an overview of colorants used in the food industry. Kashrus considerations for colorants focus not only on the manufacture of colorants themselves but on any ingredients that may be used with colorants to help make them compatible in a given food system. The first part of the article will survey natural […]
The Return Of The Evil Weevils In Rice & Barley
Recently, the OU has received complaints from consumers about high levels of infestation in barley and rice and other grain products. Many of these complaints have revealed that the affected products were beyond or close to their expiration dates. The Problem: While our certified packers sift all incoming products such as grain and flour etc., […]
Jewish Life Returns To Poland: ASK OU Is Ready
Standing on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, it’s hard to believe that this very place where Jews fought to their deaths to preserve Jewish life, has now become the epicenter of a Jewish renaissance in Poland. But what is now even more astonishing is that some of its very leaders were often ignorant of their Jewish […]
Dairy From The Desert: An Update On The Camel Milk Situation (Or Non-Situation)
A recent Dairy Reporter article about Desert Farms, the US-based camel milk company which is planning to expand its production so as to include camel milk ice cream and baby formula, prompted a flood of kashrus questions, with people asking how the kosher dairy industry will remain free of concern for camel milk content in […]
Consumers’ FAQ’s On Kosher Fish
FAQ About Purchasing Fish
Campers Receive A Hands-On Lesson In The Tradition Of Kosher Slaughter
LAKEWOOD, Pa. — In the woods here on Tuesday, campers stood in a line holding quails, feeling their warm bodies and beating hearts in their hands. “Guys, do not bond with your birds,” Hillie Ackerman, 16, a camper from Brooklyn, warned his friends. The birds were about to be slaughtered. One by one, the boys […]
Kosher Catering At A Non-Kosher Venue: What’s Happening In The Kitchen
Plan on attending your cousin’s Bar Mitzvah party next week? Or your neighbor’s daughter’s wedding next month? As an increasing number of semachot are catered at non-kosher hotels, it is important for the kosher consumer to be aware of what takes place in hotel kitchens. Indeed, oftentimes guests enjoy a lavish smorgasbord (replete with roast […]
Is My Oven Kosher? Find Out How Steam, Aroma, And Other Factors Change Your Oven’s Status…
From the Talmudic kirah to our modern microwave, oven cooking requires specific kosher knowledge. Rabbi Yaakov Luban, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator of the OU Kosher Division, explains the halachos involved and provides a practical guideline.
Zev Kraut: Winner OU KOSHER Essay Contest 2012
What is G-D teaching me with the laws of kosher? Since the moment G-D gave the Torah to the Jewish people, keeping kosher has been an essential part of the Jewish home. Accordingly, the home is an essential part of a Torah lifestyle. What goes on in the home is directly effective to what goes […]