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I saw it on the Nintendo Cereal System box (yes, that’s a thing
that happened) and wondered if anyone here had eaten it.
It was made by Ralston Cereals. I don’t know who was behind their “KD”. They made a number of interesting themed cereals but many of them had marshmallows and don’t have the “K”.
I don’t eat electronics
The K symbol (and KD symbol) means the food producer claims the product is kosher. But this symbol can be used by anyone and no (kashrus or other) organization owns, controls or has a trademark or copyright to it. It can be used by anyone and there are no kashrus standards associated with the K and KD symbols.
Joseph, I think most CR readers know that, but some K’s have legitimate kashrus organizations behind them. For instance, Kellogg’s cereals has the Vaad of Massachusetts (weird, because Kellogg’s is based in Michigan). I seem to remember some Kraft products had a K that was the OK. Other K’s, like the one on Jello gelatin, are not backed by mainstream hashgachas.
As for the original question, I believe that today many Ralston products are under the OV, which is a St. Louis hashgacha. If you see a store-brand cereal with the OV, it probably was made by Ralston.
There have been a number of splits and mergers since then. Ralston’s cold cereal trademarks (most notably Chex and Cookie Crisp) were sold to General Mills when they exited the retail market. Today Ralston’s cold cereal lineup is pretty much limited to foodservice and private labels.
So a box of bacon bits can legitimately sport a K?
I don’t think (real) bacon bits come in boxes because they’re too greasy. But since K is merely a letter of the alphabet, anyone can use it. In practice, it usually means that someone claims it’s kosher, whether a rabbi, a pseudo-rabbi, or the manufacturer. It’s unlikely anyone would claim that bacon is kosher.
Remember a few years ago when labels on treif meat in some random supermarket in a non-Jewish neighborhood had some Hebrew or Yiddish words on them? Apparently the store had purchased some used labeling equipment.
A lot of mainstream cereals have just a K or KD on them. I was told it’s because they don’t want to display the same symbol on their boxes as on their competitors boxes so they use a “general” symbol. Also, to the OP, if you have an unopened Nintindo Cereal box from the 80’s, it could be worth a lot. Cereal box collecting is actually a thing. I happen to find it fascinating while I don’t actually do it myself.
Does Judaism allow collecting? Like if one was to have a cereal box or troll doll collection?
Neville, that explanation doesn’t hold water. I think it’s only Kellogg’s that uses the K. If they wanted to, they could use the symbol of the hashgacha they’re under, namely the KVH, which none of their competitors use (Post is OK, General Mills is OU).
Why would they do that then? To simplify it to the masses?
yehudayona: Post is starting to switch to the OU.
Yeah, I’m realizing that too, Yehuda. It was probably incorrect, what I was told.
I don’t see any reason collecting would be assur, unless you’re just the type who looks for reasons to issur everything. Which, if you were, you probably wouldn’t be posting on an online forum.
Years ago it was said that Kellogg’s made a marketing decision that a “K” was enough to indicate that the product was kosher. They received less questions from non-kosher consumers.
LB – you can’t trade on Shabbos though. I’ve had experience dealing with some very disappointed kids when they heard that. Hopefully, you are old enough to be able to deal with the fact that you can only trade cereal boxes 6 days a week. You strike me as the mature type.
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