How to spot kosher foods and where to buy them?

[Raquelita]

I know that 'pareve' means its kosher, and my grocery storee has a kosher foods section in its international food aisle. But how else can you know if something is ok or not? Is it just animal products that are kosher or not or does that extend to grains too? I had an orthodox roomate one semester and she was vegetarian, in part she said b/c that made it easier to keep kosher.

[Mama Mangia]

In the grocery store you will find all sorts of foods labeled as Kosher, but the most common are Kosher hot dogs and Kosher pickles. Heinz Ketchup has been Kosher for decades. You will often find a U with a circle around it on Kosher products. There is also the word Pareve or Parve on many foods, and this is a form of Kosher labeling as well.

When a food is labeled as Kosher, it means that the food has been prepared in accordance with the rules of food preparation set forth in the old testament of the Bible and formalized in Jewish law. For example, in Chapter 11 of the book of Leviticus, the Bible states:

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Say to the people of Israel, These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is an abomination to you.

It goes on to cover birds, insects, and so on in quite a bit of detail. Other parts of the Bible indicate that the mixing of meat and milk is forbidden, that animals shall be killed humanely according to certain rituals, and so on. By following all of these different rules under rabbinical supervision, a food can be certified and labeled as Kosher.

Meat and milk can not be mixed, they cannot be eaten at the same time, and even the utensils used to prepare meat and dairy foods must be separated. On the other hand, most vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts can be mixed with either meat or milk. Therefore, these foods can be consumed at any time. A food that can be eaten either with meat or milk is labeled as pareve. This label indicates that it is safe to eat the food at any time.

[shannone]

I recently attended a wedding and all the food was kosher. When the chef prepared the food it could not even be near anything that was not kosher or they consider it conaminated. It was the first wedding I have been to that was like this and it was a bit different. But I do have to say that the food was great.

[lifecooks]

Kosher foods are broken down into 3 classes. Meat, Dairy, and Pareve. Pareve means not either meat or milk. Pareve elements, such as vegetables may be used with either meat or dairy. Food products cannot be otherwise mixed at any stage of preparation or service. Most kosher kitchens have only two sets of pots, pans, and utensils, as any pareve ingredients will be used with either dairy or meat dishes.
There are hundreds of kashrut supervision organizations, and complete and accurate listings are rare. If you are interested in finding out if a specific product is kosher, the best way is to call the manufacturer, (most have 800 numbers), and ask. As an extra service to the observant community, please also ask for a copy of the certification. They will be glad to mail or fax the document.
Asking for the certification helps the observant community by showing the manufacturers that there relaly are people who only buy kosher. There is much more and if you have any more questions, I will be glad to answer any and all.

[Recipes Cookbook Writer]

pareve means that the food does not contain any meat or dairy products. In hebrew, it is pronounced "parveh"

[Mama Mangia]

looks like another "red pencil" coming around - no recipes - just comments

[jglass]

Yeah that is kinda what I was thinking. No thread to introduce themselves.

[Mama Mangia]

I've got the button ready - I don't care for the "authorities" that have to brag about what they think they are - no participation - just comments - no recipes to share - makes ya wonder -

another site I am on there is another loser who claims to be a food expert - the posts are a joke

[The Ironic Chef]

I was reading an article not that long ago about how most food manufactures have some type of secret code on almost all prepackaged foods. The article was saying how there was some kind of Jewish conspiracy to secretly label foods that have been certified Kosher and to pass the cost on to all buyers of those items. Supposedly fees to pay Rabbis to certify these items. If you look at all the pre packaged food items you have you can find these codes on then. From you coffee to peanut butter.
I had never heard of these codes on food items before (they are there because I checked) nor anything about the Jewish conspiracy, lol. I went onto Snopes just to see if it was hog wash.

On Snopes I found that there is a code on most food stuffs that do certify foods for Jewish Communities and Kosher needs. There is no conspiracy nor fee paid to Jewish Rabbis to certify the foods. The conspiracy part is claimed to be false by Snopes.com.

On many food items the "K" stands for Kosher.
The letter "U" in a circle or ("OU") stands for Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregation and certifies that the food item was prepared and packaged under Rabbinical supervision. An "OUD" states that the packaging contains dairy products and "OUM" indicates meat products.

Parve, also Pareve is Yiddish for neutral. If this is found on packaging then it means there are no meats or dairy and that the item can be combined with other ingredients in recipes.

The things one can learn via the Internet..