The Following Are the Orthodox Union Requirements For Placement Of The OU Certification Mark:

• The OU symbol may only be placed on products that have been authorized and certified as listed on your Schedule B (list of certified products). The OU D must be used on products certified as dairy.

• Private Label Product (a brand not owned by the manufacturer and “distributed by” a company other than the manufacturer) may not bear the OU unless a Private Label Agreement (a three-way licensing agreement, signed by the manufacturer, the distributor and the OU) is signed.

• The OU symbol cannot be rubber stamped or in the form of a sticker separate from the original packaging or product label. If you have existing packaging that does not have the OU and these products are now certified, arrangements can be made to address this situation.

• The Orthodox Union does not dictate requirements as to size or where the OU symbol is placed. However, we recommend that it be placed conspicuously, so that it can be seen on a store shelf by a purchaser or a recipient. On most retail labels, the OU symbol appears to the immediate right of the product name.

• Products which are certified as dairy must have the “D” or the word “Dairy” in equal size font to the OU symbol. The “D” should not be a subscript.

• OU certified products may not contain another food item that is not OU certified. For example, the OU symbol may not be printed on a cereal box that contains a non-OU certified candy, although this cereal generally bears the OU symbol.

• When bundling items of different status together (e.g. kosher and non-kosher or dairy and pareve), the OU symbol may not be used on the composite bag or tray. The certification should only appear on the individual items. For example, a tray containing dairy and pareve potato chips may not have an OU on the tray, as consumers might think that all the items contained are pareve. Alternatively, the tray may be marked as OU/OU-D. A multi-pack of granola bars containing kosher and non-kosher varieties may not have an OU on the outer box, but rather the OU should only appear on the certified items.

• It is not recommended to print the OU symbol on blank boxes, cartons or bags since not all products produced in a plant may be certified. Private label customers may be ineligible or choose not to sign the OU Private Label Agreement; as a result the OU symbol may not be used on their packaging.

For further clarification contact:
Howard Katzenstein
Business Manager, OU Kosher

212 613 8169

OU Kosher Staff