{"id":954,"date":"2021-05-02T19:36:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/?p=954"},"modified":"2021-05-04T00:58:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T00:58:00","slug":"ask-ou-kosher-rabbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Rabbi,<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are in the midst of deciding whether to go ahead with submitting our OU application. It has been brought to our marketing team\u2019s attention that there is a growing tendency among kosher consumers to seek OU-certified liquor products.\u00a0 Is that true? We are aware of requirements for kosher certification of wines, brandies, liqueurs, gin, vodkas and other alcoholic beverages. Is there also a need to obtain kosher certification for our bourbon, scotch and single malt lines? Your input and clarification would be appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> You are absolutely correct that wines, brandies, liqueurs, flavored liquors and any products that are potentially grape-derived, require reliable kosher verification. This is due to the unique kosher sensitivity associated with grape products and their derivatives.<\/p>\n

Grain and sugar-based alcoholic products usually have fewer concerns and are much more easily kosher-verified. Still, there is a growing interest in obtaining kosher certification for such products, and for good reason. They include:<\/p>\n

Alcoholic products frequently do not identify the source material.<\/p>\n

Even where the alcohol source can be determined, the frequent addition of neutral blenders can pose kosher concerns.<\/p>\n

Grain alcohols may be stored or aged in wooden casks that had previously been used for grape-based materials.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, alcoholic beverages are not being bottled at the source; they are transported to bottling facilities where processing equipment may be shared with non-kosher materials.<\/p>\n

Many of the above concerns, even where they do exist, can be addressed in the context of a kosher program and the finished products can be kosher certified.<\/p>\n

Informed consumers are feeding a growing interest in kosher certification for the alcohol market. Astute industry leaders are taking note of this phenomenon.<\/p>\n

With best regards,<\/p>\n

Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz,<\/p>\n

Sr. Rabbinic Coordinator, The Orthodox Union<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Rabbi, We are in the midst of deciding whether to go ahead with submitting our OU application. It has been brought to our marketing team\u2019s attention that there is a growing tendency among kosher consumers to seek OU-certified liquor products.\u00a0 Is that true? We are aware of requirements for kosher certification of wines, brandies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-btus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAsk the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Rabbi, We are in the midst of deciding whether to go ahead with submitting our OU application. It has been brought to our marketing team\u2019s attention that there is a growing tendency among kosher consumers to seek OU-certified liquor products.\u00a0 Is that true? We are aware of requirements for kosher certification of wines, brandies, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Behind the Union Symbol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-02T19:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T00:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/\",\"name\":\"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-02T19:36:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-04T00:58:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/ace3d93e7e02e8671ece520a3222e35c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/\",\"name\":\"Behind the Union Symbol\",\"description\":\"\\\\\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/ace3d93e7e02e8671ece520a3222e35c\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf28936d4140891e3742fd8cd843562a833893b1ec9ac90b8e7d4da1646adf90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf28936d4140891e3742fd8cd843562a833893b1ec9ac90b8e7d4da1646adf90?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/author\/rabinowitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol","og_description":"Dear Rabbi, We are in the midst of deciding whether to go ahead with submitting our OU application. It has been brought to our marketing team\u2019s attention that there is a growing tendency among kosher consumers to seek OU-certified liquor products.\u00a0 Is that true? We are aware of requirements for kosher certification of wines, brandies, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/","og_site_name":"Behind the Union Symbol","article_published_time":"2021-05-02T19:36:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-04T00:58:00+00:00","author":"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/","name":"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi - Behind the Union Symbol","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-05-02T19:36:11+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-04T00:58:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/ace3d93e7e02e8671ece520a3222e35c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2021\/05\/02\/ask-ou-kosher-rabbi\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ask the OU Kosher Rabbi"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/","name":"Behind the Union Symbol","description":"\\","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/ace3d93e7e02e8671ece520a3222e35c","name":"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf28936d4140891e3742fd8cd843562a833893b1ec9ac90b8e7d4da1646adf90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf28936d4140891e3742fd8cd843562a833893b1ec9ac90b8e7d4da1646adf90?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rabbi Nahum Z. Rabinowitz"},"url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/author\/rabinowitz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1272,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954\/revisions\/1272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}