Kosher foods

Main article: Kashrut

The circled U indicates that this product is certified as kosher by the Orthodox Union (OU). The word "Pareve" indicates that this product contains neither milk nor meat ingredients.

Kosher foods are those that conform to Jewish law. Invalidating characteristics may range from the presence of ingredients derived from non-kosher animals or kosher animals that were not properly slaughtered, a mixture of meat and milk, wine or grape juice (and their derivatives) produced by gentiles, the use of produce from Israel that has not been tithed properly, or even the use of cooking utensils and machinery which had previously been used for non-kosher food. For an in-depth discussion of this tradition, see kashrut.

Meat

Modern halakha (Jewish law) on kashrut classifies the flesh of both mammals and birds as "meat"; fish are considered to be parve (also spelled parev, pareve; Yiddish: פארעוו parev), i.e. neither meat nor dairy.

Mammals: 11:3–11:8

The dietary laws are given in Leviticus 11: "And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: "speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.'" (Leviticus 11:1–11:2). Leviticus 11:3 sets down that Jews may eat animals (some translations use "beasts") that have cloven hooves and chew their cud, and Leviticus 11:4 explicitly prohibited the consumption of animals that do not have these characteristics, designating them "unclean to you." Four mammals are specifically prohibited:

"But this is what you shall not eat from among those that bring up their cud or that have split hooves; the camel, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split— it is unclean to you; and the hyrax, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split— it is unclean to you;and the hare, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split— it is unclean to you; and the pig, for its hoof is split and its hoof is completely separated, yet it does not chew its cud— it is unclean to you. You shall not eat of their flesh nor shall you touch their carcass— they are unclean to you."

— Leviticus 11:4-8

The identification of the above animals and other issues relating to this topic is the subject of much debate. Recently, Natan Slifkin published a book, titled The Camel, the Hare, and the Hyrax on the topic.

All kosher mammals, therefore, are even-toed ungulates and herbivores in the suborder Ruminantia, including several common domesticated animals and many wild animals. Kosher animals include the following:

• Bovines (family Bovidae) (cattle (cows), goats, sheep, and antelope)
• Musk deer (family Moschidae)
• Deer (family Cervidae)
• Giraffes and okapis (family Giraffidae)
• Pronghorns (family Antilocapridae)

Giraffes are technically kosher. The makom shechitah (region of the neck in which ritual slaughter is valid) on a giraffe is precisely defined by halachah, just as it is for all animals, and the only impediments to shechting giraffe are cost and practical considerations. (They are among the most difficult animals to restrain.)

Leviticus 11:8 commands the Hebrews that, "of their flesh [of other animals] you shall not eat, and of their carcass you shall not touch." The following verse, Leviticus 11:9, goes on to address seafood.

Seafood: 11:9-12

In Leviticus 11:9, seafood ("all that are in the waters") is addressed. As was done for mammals, two criteria are given for fish also: whatever has "fins and scales"—there are several words for scales in Hebrew, and this only refers to permanent scales—may be eaten. The following verses describe seafood that does not have fins and scales as "an abomination," and commands the Israelites, "of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall detest".

For a fish to be kosher, the fins must be translucent and the scales easily detachable; i.e., removable without ripping the skin. In practice, kosher fish must have either ctenoid or cycloid scales.

Shark, catfish, octopus, squid, jellyfish, and eel are not kosher. All forms of shellfish—(clams, oysters, crab, lobster, and shrimp)—are not kosher. Sea mammals, such as dolphins, whales, and seals are not kosher.

Seaweed and other sea plant life are kosher, but require checking for infestation.

According to tradition, swordfish and sturgeon are not kosher, as they have scales while young but lose them later. Some Conservative rabbis allow their consumption.

According to most traditions, fish is considered pareve (neutral) and may be eaten at both meat and dairy meals, although consumption of fish together with meat or milk is not usually done because the Shulchan Oruch says that it is dangerous.

Birds

Kosher birds include: duck, goose, chicken, turkey, guineafowl and many others. As a general principle, scavenging birds such as vultures and birds of prey such as hawks and eagles (which will eat carrion when they find it) are not considered kosher, while other birds generally are. Leviticus outlines the non-kosher birds; in practice, the identities of the birds listed as non-kosher are not all known, so religious authorities have restricted consumption to specific birds for which Jews have passed down a tradition from generation to generation. Thus birds such as songbirds, which are consumed as delicacies in many societies, may be kosher in theory, but are not eaten in kosher homes. Likewise, though swans are kosher in theory if kosher-slaughtered, there is no Jewish tradition of eating swans.

Kosher slaughter and preparation

See also: shechita

Jewish law states that kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according to a strict set of guidelines, the slaughter (shechita) (שחיטה) which as a side-benefit minimizes the pain inflicted on the animal. This necessarily eliminates the practice of hunting wild game for food, unless it can be captured alive and ritually slaughtered.

A professional slaughterer, or shochet (שוחט), using a large razor-sharp knife with absolutely no irregularities, nicks or dents, and checked carefully between killing each animal, makes a single cut across the throat to a precise depth, severing both carotid arteries, both jugular veins, both vagus nerves, the trachea and the esophagus, no higher than the epiglottis and no lower than where cilia begin inside the trachea, causing the animal to bleed to death. Any variation from this exact procedure could cause unnecessary suffering; therefore, if the knife catches even for a split second or is found afterward to have developed any irregularities, or the depth of cut is too deep or shallow, the carcass is not kosher (nevela) and is sold as regular meat to the general public. The shochet must not only be rigorously trained in this procedure, but also a pious Jew of good character who observes the Sabbath, and who remains cognizant that these are God's creatures who are sacrificing their lives for the good of himself and his community and should not be allowed to suffer. In smaller communities, traditionally the shochet was often the town rabbi or the rabbi of one of the local synagogues; large factories which produce Kosher meat have professional full time shochtim on staff. Koshat is now available either directly in local stores or by order everywhere in the world.

Once killed, the animal is opened to determine whether there are any of seventy different irregularities or growths on its internal organs, which would render the animal non-kosher. The term glatt kosher (although it is often used colloquially to mean "strictly kosher") literally means "smooth", and properly refers to meat where the lungs have absolutely no adhesions (i.e. scars from previous inflammation), thus there was never even a question of their not being kosher.

As Jewish law prohibits the consumption of the blood of any animal, all blood and large blood vessels must be removed from the meat. This is most commonly done by soaking and salting, but also can be done by a special broiling process. The hindquarters of a mammal are not kosher unless the sciatic nerve and the fat surrounding it are removed (Genesis 32, last verse). This is a very time-consuming process demanding a great deal of special training, and is rarely done outside Israel where there is a greater demand for kosher meat. When it is not done the hindquarters of the animal are sold for non-kosher meat.

Gelatin

A controversial topic is the status of gelatin. True gelatin consists of denatured proteins, and comes from the processed hides or bones of animals, usually pigs or cows. This also affects the status of some brands of marshmallows. Most kosher products today use fish-based gelatin.

Another issue with gelatin is whether it is parve ('not dairy, nor meat'). A kosher parve 'gelatin' made from vegetable gums such as carrageenan combined with food starch from tapioca (which is also suitable for vegans) is commercially available in supermarkets which have substantial Kosher food sections. It does behave differently than protein-based gelatin, however, and cannot always be substituted directly for animal gelatin without modification of the recipe (mixing it with hot water instead of cold water). Other gelatin-like materials available include combinations of carrageenan and other vegetable gums, such as guar gum, locust-bean gum, xanthan gum, gum acacia, and agar, chemically modified food starch, and chemically modified pectins. Recently, such products have been used in prepackaged gelled fruit products, replacing animal-based gelatin.

Although most gelatin is considered non-kosher, several prominent rabbinic authorities have noted that gelatin undergoes such extensive processing and chemical changes that it no longer has the status of meat, and as such may be considered parve and kosher. This is the position adopted by some Orthodox rabbis, including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.

Insects and other invertebrates, reptiles, and amphibians

With four exceptions, all insects and other invertebrates (including those usually consumed as seafood), all reptiles, and all amphibians are considered 'loathsome', 'crawling' creatures, and are forbidden by the Torah. The exceptions are a type of locust, the kosher locust native to the Arabian peninsula, encompassing four distinct species. The tradition for identifying which species of locust were and were not kosher has been lost among all Jews except the Jews of Yemen. (One hypothesis links these kosher insects to the Biblical manna which was provided as food for the Israelites in the desert).

Bee honey is Kosher, even though bees are not, because the honey is made by the bee, not a secretion of the bee.

In the summer of 2004, a controversy arose in New York City over the presence of copepods (tiny crustaceans) in the city water supply. While some authorities hold that these creatures are microscopic and therefore negligible, others note that they are almost the size of a small insect, such as a gnat, and far larger than a bacterium or other single-celled creature; and in fact can be detected by the naked eye. As of this writing a definitive ruling has not been produced as to whether copepods are kosher, but many families have begun using filters on their drinking and cooking water supply.

Dairy

Milk and milk-derived products derived from kosher animals are kosher. All milk from cows, goats, and sheep is kosher. Some Haredi and Modern Orthodox rabbis hold that only "Cholov Yisroel" (חלב ישראל) milk and dairy products may be consumed; this label means that the milk has been under constant supervision from milking to bottling, to make sure that it is not mixed with the milk of a non-kosher animal.

Cheese

Cheese is a dairy product. Hard cheeses, however, are usually made from milk and rennet, an animal product.

Rennet is the enzyme used to turn milk into curds and whey; most forms of rennet derive from the lining of the stomach of an animal. Though rennets made from the stomachs of kosher animals that are kosher-slaughtered are kosher, when combined with milk, this violates the prohibition against mixing milk and meat, thereby rendering the cheese unkosher. Therefore, enzymes found in kosher cheese are generally made from vegetable or microbial sources. The Mishna and Talmud (in Avodah Zarah and Hullin) state that cheese made with rennet derived from a non-kosher animal is non-kosher. Orthodox authorities follow this ruling, and hold that rennet is a "d'var ha'ma'amid" (דבר המעמיד), an ingredient which changes the food so significantly that its presence cannot be considered negligible, so that even tiny amounts make the food it is added to non-kosher. In practice, Orthodox and some Conservative Jews who observe the laws of kashrus eat only cheese made with kosher enzymes.

Many commercial cheeses marketed to vegetarians are also made with non-animal rennet. Such cheeses still require certification to be recognized as kosher by Jews following kashrut laws.

Parev / Pareve

Foods that contain no dairy or meat content are known as parev (also spelled pareve). Examples may be most drinks, all fruit, and raw vegetables.

Pareve food and drink can be consumed with either dairy or meat meals.

Otherwise parev ingredients can become considered meat or dairy if cooked in a vessel not kept just for parev cooking.

Prohibition of mixing meat and dairy

Waiting between meals

Historically, the extent of the restriction on meat/dairy mixtures has evolved over time and locale.

I. Biblical text

The old prohibition of meat/dairy mixtures is found in three verses in the Torah, which identically state, “You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk,” (Ex 23:19, 34:26, Deut 14:21). These verses are the ultimate basis for not eating meat and milk together. However, this requirement is much less restrictive than Rabbinic Judaism's prohibition against all mixtures of milk and meat. Rabbinic tradition relies on the existence of an Oral Torah, which in this case maintains that all mixtures of milk and meat are intended by the verses.

II. Talmudic period

The Talmudic Rabbis (Chullin 115b) state that the verses only prohibit meat actually being cooked in milk, but the rabbis also added in a prohibition of eating meat with milk products. Additionally, they mandated a waiting period after the consumption of meat before dairy is allowed to be eaten. Mar Ukva tells how his father would not eat dairy after a meat meal, but rather would wait until the next day. Mar Ukva himself would not eat dairy at the same meal, but would at the next one. (Chullin 105a) The exact time period "between meals" is thus of importance in determining the amount of time one must wait.

III. Medieval and Modern periods

Tosafot (Chullin 105a) explains that as long as one has cleared the table after the meal and recited the blessing after a meal, then one may begin a new meal with dairy. Maimonides explains that waiting is necessary because meat becomes stuck in the teeth and cannot be removed by simply cleaning one's teeth. He specifies the time between meals as "about six hours", which has led some authorities to permit eating milk after waiting only 5½ hours. He also connects it to health issues and idolatry. The Shulchan Aruch, the codification Jewish law, widely accepted today, requires waiting a full six hours for meat, including fowl. If food is stuck between teeth one must take it out. This ruling is binding for Sephardi Jews. Ashkenazi Jews, however, have various customs. Most European Jews will wait six hours, even if the table is cleared and the blessings have been recited. German Jews wait three hours, and Dutch Jews, when they have the tradition passed on in their families, wait only one. After eating certain hard or aged cheeses, a waiting period of 6 hours is also mandated by Jewish law.

Eating meat after dairy is considered less problematic. One must only (a) say the blessings, (b) clean and rinse mouth, and (c) wash hands. Many people also wait 1/2 hour between the two meals, and some wait a full hour.

Basic information

Milk products and meat products may not be eaten together in the same meal or cooked together. Jewish law thus mandates a set of 'fence' laws that prevent this from happening:

• cooking meat and milk together is prohibited, even if the resulting dish is not eaten;
• eating milk and meat at the same meal is prohibited even if they are not cooked together; and
• no benefit can be attained from such activity.

Note that in most current forms of Judaism (but not among all Karaites, Ethiopian Jews and some Persian Jewish communities), this even applies to the flesh of birds, not just mammals. Observant Jewish homes maintain two sets of silverware, cookware, cups, and dishes. One is for the preparation and consumption of dairy (Yiddish milchig, Hebrew chalavi) meals, the other for meat (Yiddish fleishig or fleishedik, Hebrew basari) meals. This prevents any trace of meat and dairy materials or implements from mixing accidentally.

Foods that contain neither milk nor meat are considered "neutral"—Yiddish pareve, modern Hebrew parve. They may be served using either meat or dairy dishes, along with either meat or dairy foods. However, if, for example, eggs were cooked in a meat pan, one would not be allowed to accompany the eggs with dairy items, even though the eggs themselves remain pareve and one would not need to wait before eating dairy.

Pareve items include all fruits and vegetables and foods derived exclusively from such sources; salt and other non-organic foodstuffs. Fish is considered parve, and may be eaten directly before or after both meat and milk, but may not be mixed directly with meat or eaten on the same plate as meat (see Seafood above).

Produce

Various laws apply to fruits, vegetables and produce. Most of these apply only to produce of the Land of Israel:

• Orlah—fruits, harvested from a tree, less than three years after its planting (Mishnah tractate Orlah 3:9, Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De'ah 294:9-10)
• Various tithes (Shulchan Aruch ibid ch. 391-393):
  • Terumah—originally given to the Kohanim (priestly caste)
  • Maaser Rishon—originally given to the Levites
  • Maaser Sheni—originally consumed in Jerusalem or given to the poor (in specific years)
• Shmita—produce from each seventh year (Mishna tractate Shevi'it and Maimonides Hilchot Shevi'it ve-Yovel)
• Challah—a portion of dough which must be given to the Kohanim (Mishna tractate Challah, Shulchan Aruch ibid 322-330)

Outside the land of Israel, it is generally accepted by kosher consumers that all fresh produce is considered kosher and may be purchased from any store without restriction. However, laws apply to inspection for insects.

Most Orthodox authorities require a hechsher to be present on most commercially processed fruits and vegetables, including canned fruits and vegetables, frozen vegetables, and dried fruit (such as raisins). This is because these items are often cooked and processed in factories using equipment that is also used for non-kosher foods, and sometimes contains additives. In addition, containers used for processing may be greased with animal fats. An exception are some frozen fruits, including berries, which are often frozen in their natural form, not processed in any of these ways, and bagged. They may be purchased for Passover and year round without a hechsher. In the cases of raisins, since they are derived from grapes, special restriction apply.

Grains and cereals

Unprocessed grains and cereals are kosher. Processed items (e.g. dry cereals, baked goods) frequently contain small quantities of non-kosher ingredients; therefore Orthodox rabbis advise against consuming such products without a hechsher (mark of rabbinical certification of kashrut) on the product. There are certain items that do not need such certification, such as plain tea, salt, 100% cocoa, carbonated water and coffee. Some Conservative rabbis say that a careful reading of the ingredients is sufficient. (According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, small amounts of food do not have to be listed, and items which are not "ingredients" but might have an effect on the finished product—such as food-grade lubricants used on production machinery—do not have to be listed at all.)

Kosher for Passover

During Passover, there are additional restrictions on what foods may be eaten. Jewish law prohibits the consumption of leavened products, and furthermore any product made from the so-called "five species" of grain—conventionally viewed to be wheat, rye, barley, spelt, or oats—which may have been inadvertently briefly moistened sometime after harvest, and thus begun the fermentation process which is key to leavening. The exception to this rule is matza, which has been ritually supervised from harvest to packaging to ensure that no leavening has occurred.

Ashkenazi Jews are further restricted, by custom, from eating rice, legumes, and corn (collectively called kitniyot) during Passover. Due to the prevalence of corn syrup in American processed foods, many common items are disallowed for Ashkenazic Jews during Passover. In particular, Coca-Cola produces and distributes "kosher for Passover" runs with its corn syrup-free recipe during Passover in the United States.

In order to prevent inadvertent consumption of leaven, observant Jews either maintain an entirely separate set of dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, etc. for Passover (much as they maintain separate sets of kitchenware year-round for milk and for meat), or they kasher their chametz dishes by immersing them in boiling water. For convenience sake, some people who can afford it have separate kitchens for Passover.

Due to the high likelihood of chametz being found in food with even a small amount of processing, most commercial products require special Kosher for Passover certification. This is usually marked with a plain letter P on the label, or with the words "Kosher for Passover" or "May be used for Passover."

Other produce

All fresh fruits and vegetables are kosher in principle. Jewish law requires that they be carefully checked and cleaned to make sure that there are no insects on them, as insects are not kosher (except certain grasshoppers and crickets according to the Jews of Yemen only, see above). The Orthodox community is particular not to consume produce which may have insect infestation, and check and wash certain forms of produce very carefully. Many Orthodox Jews avoid certain vegetables, such as broccoli, because they may be infested and exceedingly hard to clean. (According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, commercially it is not possible to remove all insects, and a sizeable amount remain. Responding to this issue, some companies now sell thoroughly washed and inspected produce for those who do not wish to do it themselves, even going to the trouble of filtering the wash water to ensure that it carries no microscopic creatures [see discussion of such animals in tap water, above]. These may or may not meet rabbinical standards for being insect-free. Some kashrut certifying organizations completely recommend against consumption of certain vegetables they deem impossible to clean.)

There are some restrictions on consumption of produce grown in Israel. The fruit of a tree for the first three years is not consumed (in keeping with the law of orlah). For crops grown in Israel, tithes must be taken and allocated according to the precepts of the Bible, otherwise the entire crop will not be considered kosher. In Israel, stores that sell fruits and vegetables will usually display kosher certification. The certificate ("teudah") must be from the current month.

Eggs

Eggs from kosher birds are kosher; they are also considered pareve (neutral, neither milk nor meat). Traditionally, eggs are examined in a glass cup to ascertain that they contain no blood. Eggs containing blood in the white may be used according to Sephardi halakha if the blood can be removed, but the egg must be discarded if any blood is found on the yolk. Ashkenazim generally do not distinguish between blood in the white or on the yolk. Partially-formed eggs found inside slaughtered birds may be eaten, but they must undergo the same process of blood removal as the animal, and these eggs are considered to be fleishig (status of meat) in Ashkenazi Judaism.

Canned and frozen foods

Most canned and frozen foods are usually permissible since manufacturers add only water and spices during the packaging process. Sometimes, however, fruits or vegetables are prepared with milk products or with non-kosher ingredients such as non-kosher meat broth. Orthodox Judaism thus holds that canned and frozen goods (except frozen berries) should generally not be consumed unless there is a reliable hechsher on the product. Conservative rabbis are often more lenient, and say that a careful reading of the ingredients is sufficient.

Wine and grape products

Main article: Kosher wine

Orthodox Jews will not drink wine produced by non-Jews. The prohibition on drinking such wine, called "yayin nesekh," goes back to pagan times, when wine was used for idolatrous purposes. One area of leniency is in regard to pasteurized wine, which falls under the category of "cooked wine" ("yayin mevushal"). Such wine was historically viewed as less suitable for religious practices, and is therefore not subject to the same prohibitions as uncooked non-Jewish wine, primarily regarding the way it may be handled. However, even mevushal wine is forbidden without proper supervision.

Alternative views

Within Conservative Judaism, the law is regarded as being upheld, but the practice has significantly changed. In the 1960s the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a responsum ("legal ruling") by Rabbi Israel Silverman on this subject.

He writes that some classical Jewish authorities agree that Christians are not considered idolaters, and that their products would not be considered forbidden in this regard. He also noted that most wine-making in the United States is fully automated. Based on 15th-19th century precedents in responsa literature, he concluded that wines manufactured by this automated process may not be classified as wine "manufactured by gentiles", and thus are not prohibited by Jewish law. This responsum makes no attempt to change halakhah, but rather argues that most American wine is kosher by traditional halakhic standards.

A later responsum on this subject was written by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, and also accepted by the CJLS. Dorff noted that not all wines are made by automated processes, and thus the reasoning behind Silverman's responsum was not conclusively reliable in all cases. He explored rabbinic thought on Jewish views of non-Christians, also finding that most poskim refused to consign Christians to the status of idolator. Noting that many foods once considered forbidden if produced by gentiles (wheat and oil products) were eventually declared kosher, he concluded that wine and grape products produced by non-Jews are permissible.

Mixtures Considered Unhealthy

Mixing fish and meat, while technically kosher, is restricted by a Talmudic ruling. It stems from the sages understanding that the consumption of fish and meat at the same time could be harmful to one's health (according to Ashkenazim). The general practice of Orthodox Jews is that when they eat fish and meat at the same meal, they use separate plates and utensils. Sephardi Jews do not mix fish and milk, or fish and milk products together (Shulchan Aruch).

See also

• Halal
• Islamic and Jewish dietary laws compared
• Kosher tax
• Taboo food and drink