HIGHLIGHTS
The North American Kosher Cheese Market’s Coming of Age Those who follow kosher market trends are vividly aware of the maturation of the North American kosher wine industry, in which prize-winning wines that “just happen to be kosher” now pack the shelves of fine grocery and liquor shops. In fact, there are currently so many […]
By Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer As part of its ongoing professional enrichment initiatives, OU Kosher hosts two programs every other summer that are geared to enhance kosher certification worldwide and to cultivate the next generation of kosher professionals. These two acclaimed programs, the Ask OU Summer Seminar and Summer Internship, are the premier professional training events […]
By Bayla Sheva Brenner If you want to know where any of the 500 OU Kosher RFRs (rabbinic field representatives) are at any given time on any given day and how they got there, just ask Rabbi Michael Morris. It’s his job — and his passion. When Rabbi Morris, OU Kosher’s RFR traffic controller, joined […]
One of the latest projects at the OU has been developing guidelines for the kosherization of general purpose railcars. Dozens of OU-certified companies regularly supply or receive liquid commodities, including vegetable oil, corn syrup, and ethanol, using railcars, which is often a cost-effective alternative to using tanker trailers. Here’s a typical scenario that would mandate […]
NEW TO THE OU Reed’s Brews the Best with OU Kosher Certification By Chris Reed, Founder and CEO of Reed’s, Inc. As the producer of the top selling sodas in the natural food industry, we’re very proud to be newly kosher-certified by the OU. This was a major undertaking, as our team went through a […]
“But Rabbi, before we start I want you to know…we also do non-kosher!!!” Those words, often uttered during an initial conversation about potential kosher certification of a new plant, often sound like a confession. Is all really lost? Is the fact that your plant handles non-kosher and OU Kosher a deal breaker? The answer is […]
IN THEIR WORDS The Cheese Guy By Brent Delman I have been in the gourmet food business for nearly 20 years, and have always had a passion for fine cheeses. Having grown up in the Midwest, I also gained an appreciation for small, family-owned dairy farms. Raised in a non-kosher home, I knew what the […]
Ask the Rabbi Q: Can you please explain why our request to have our butter bread added to our Schedule B (list of products to be certified kosher) was declined. All the ingredients on the list were already approved as kosher for use in other products? Why was this product not authorized? A: In order […]
Additives, Components, Ingredients, Processing Aids: Kosher Definitions By Rabbi Akiva Tendler The OU symbol represents strict oversight of ingredient usage and production processes for OU- certified products. Of the many critical control points in kosher production, ingredient control cannot be over-emphasized. All ingredients, no matter how insignificant or their quantity, must be declared and documented […]