Kosher Certification

The word "kosher" means "proper" or "acceptable," and has informally entered the English language with that meaning. Kosher laws have their origin in the Bible, though, and are detailed in the Talmud and the other codes of Jewish laws. Kosher rulings have been applied through the centuries to ever-changing situations, and these rulings, both ancient and modern, govern the certification of products as "kosher."

The Bible lists categories of food items that are not kosher including certain animals (e.g., pork and rabbit), fowl (e.g., eagle and owl), fish (catfish and sturgeon), and shellfish, insects, and reptiles. Kosher species of meat and fowl must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner and checked for pathologies. The meat must also be soaked and salted. Meat and dairy products may not be manufactured or consumed together.

Commercially processed kosher foods require that all ingredients, processing equipment, and manufacturing processes be inspected by a Rabbi to ensure that all ingredients and equipment associated with the manufacture of kosher food items must be kosher as well. Equipment used for hot production of non-kosher products, for example, may not be used for kosher production without kosherization (a hot-purging procedure).

Geliko Kosher Gelatine products are certified kosher pareve (for Passover and year-round use) by the Orthodox Union, commonly referred to as "OU," the world's largest and most widely recognized kosher certification agency, certifying more than 400,000 products produced in over 6,000 plants located in 80 countries around the world. The OU certification is acceptable to all main-stream kosher organization such as OK, Kof-K and Star-K.

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For more information about the Orthodox Union visit www.oukosher.org