Avi G, a New Yorker vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale, found an ice cream cup at a local convenience store with an unclear kosher symbol. “It was either an OU or OV, but either way it didn’t look right,” he told KosherToday. Avi ultimately found out that the ice cream was using an unauthorized symbol. Pfizer recently filed suit against Marco Hi-Tech for allegedly selling it a kosher ingredient with a fraudulent letter from the Orthodox Union. The two are but a small sample of growing fraud and other misrepresentation of kosher that are creating angst amongst many kosher consumers.
Successful challenges against laws protecting kosher consumers have in the words of kosher experts left the growing base of kosher consumers extremely vulnerable. Kashrus agencies say that they have been forced to spend significant amounts of money to protect their symbols from fraud. These concerns are not shared by a Georgian Conservative rabbi and the ACLU who filed suit against the State for defining kosher as meeting “orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.” Rabbi Shalom Lewis claims he cannot fulfill his rabbinical duties “because his theological interpretation of the state’s kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism.” He said he “violates state law” when he approves some foods as kosher that are not kosher under Orthodox definitions.” The laws have been on the books since 1980.
According to kashrus officials, incidents of unauthorized use of kashrus symbols has increased by nearly 30% in the last two years, even in New York where new kosher laws merely require food establishments to publicize the affiliation and background of their certification in what is commonly known as “disclosure.” One mashgiach found a form in a New Jersey kitchen that had filled in the name of the rabbi as “Moshe Rabbeinu” (Moses, Our Teacher). A proper version was posted in the catering hall. One kashrus official told KosherToday that “tougher laws clearly defining kosher are necessary to protect kosher consumers and that does not preclude a Conservative rabbi from establishing his own definition in his congregation if it is accepted. “More than 1.25 million Jews in the US are said to eat kosher foods regularly in addition to other Americans who expect that the kosher foods they buy are in accordance with the age-old definition of kosher.” The official pointed to the Commack LI butchers that successfully challenged the New York State laws, “who, believe me, did not increase their business after they torpedoed the laws protecting people who eat kosher everyday.”
(Source: Kosher Today)
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8 Responses
The article confuses two distinct issues. One is the use of unauthorized kashrus symbols. These symbols are trademarked, and are the intellectual property of the group who owns them. It is a very simple issue under American law and involves no complicated halachic concerns or “church-state issues”. The owner of the symbol authorizes (actually “licenses”) the use to those whom they choose, and we rely on the owner to enforce the standards at the level we support.
The other is whether the government can define kosher in a way that is acceptable to Orthodox Jews without involving religion. If you would accept the schichta done and supervised by a Lesbian (female homosexual) “rabbi” who is neither Shomer Shabbos nor Shomer Kashruth by any standard, but who says she meets all Orthodox requirements – you have no problem with the idea of Barack Obama or David Patterson deciding what is kosher. We keep kosher because of Ha-Shem, not because of the government, and there is no way a secular government can be expected to “keep kosher”, whereas the government can enforce the trademark owned by OU or OK (or anyone else), just as it protects trademarks for Microsoft or Disney.
1. Nailed it.
Fraud works both ways in kashris. Like Detergent or Water that supposedly need hechsherim. Furthermore, half the time you see OU-D, the products may not be dairy at all. This is done to give the heimish brands a leg up. The “stupid” goyishe companies that pay for this have no clue that this affects their sales. If Shoprite cookies didn’t have the “D”, we wouldn’t be doling out the extra 50% to 100% more money for Bloomies or Paskesz. Ask any restaurant owner how some hechsherim extort with threats. It’s a lot worse that anyone knows or can imagine.
3, you speak like the jelly donut you claim to be.
the cookies are milchik and the percentage of ‘D’ being truly dairy are more likely in the 90+ percentage! too bad you know little about hilchos kashrus & much about hilchos boychsforos!
If the Government decides that the correct P’Shat in the Gemoroh in Eiruvin is like R Moshe and not like the Aruch Hashilchon, they will have to issue huge fines to all that use the Eiruv in Boro Park.
The Gov’t will say that they are calling something Kosher when it is not.
They will fine Satmar on Rodney, Bobov on 48 st, Satmar on 53 st. for having closed off the block with an Eiruv. and the Gov’t holds that Brooklyn is a Rishus Horabim, and an Eiruv is Unkosher..
There was an interesting article a while back about:
1. a kid who was R”L L”A deathly allergic to dairy, and
2. Oreo cookies.
Oreos have an OU-“D” (presumably meaning Dairy), yet this kid could still eat Oreos with no problem because Oreos do NOT contain any Dairy.
My guess is that Oreos is far from the only product certified by the OU with a “D” (due to Dairy Equipment or whatever other reason they may have).
So while I would hope #3 is incorrect in his assertion that this is done to give the heimish brands an unfair advantage, I am still a little skeptical of #5’s 90+ percentage figure.
I say change the law, let the conservatives have their own hechsher, so long as everyone knows it is conservative. They do that here in Florida. Their congregants pretty much don’t eat real kashrus anyway and the ehrliche yidden won’t touch the stuff, so who cares?
If c”v this goes to the goyishe courts who are completely ignorant and who have NO IDEA of the importance of kashrus, anything can happen. Look what’s going on in England over who counts as a Jew — do we want the courts here deciding what is and what isn’t kosher??
To me, that’s the real problem. What these conservative fools don’t realize is that they open the door to a whole slew of unintended consequences (not that they care — they just want to promote themselves and get a slice of the pie). If they succeed in the courts “because (their)theological interpretation of the state’s kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism,” what is to prevent, say, the messianics from making the same claim?
My son is one of those severely allergic to dairy who eats Oreos w/o a problem. However, Oreos is known to be an exception-my son would never have eaten them w/o definite knowledge that they are 100% pareve.