Kosher Food 

Kosher Food

It is a specific food which does not have any prohibited ingredients like pork or shellfish in meat or mixtures like dairy and meat together. Unprocessed fruits and vegetables are always considered Kosher. On other side processed foods are considered Kosher if their production process has been supervised to make sure they have no forbidden ingredients or mixtures. According to Kosher law the food is divided in four category and all types of food has different norms from the preparation to final stage. Meat, dairy product, pareve and other foods are the main four varieties of foodstuff and all food items under these category must follow Kosher standard to be Kosher certified.

1. Meat products -Jewish law states that meat is only Kosher if it comes from a permitted species like chicken or beef, but not pork. Any meat to be considered Kosher, it must meet the specific criteria: The term meat in the Kosher perspective usually refers to eatable flesh from certain types of animal and bird, as well any products derived from them, like broth, gravy, or bones. Followings are the certain standard for any meat to be consider as Kosher.

• It must come from ruminant animals such as sheep, lambs, goat, cows and deer who has split hooves or cloven
• Some domestic birds like turkey, geese, chicken, dove and quail can be also eaten.
• The blood must be completely drained from all meat or must be soaked in order to remove any traces of blood prior to cooking.
• According to Jewish laws it has to be butchered in accordance with the laws of Jewish slaughter
• Any utensils used to slaughter or prepare the meat must be Kosher and designated only for use with meat and meat products.

1. Dairy food products-according to Jewish law you can consume any dairy product which comes from Kosher animal such as milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt. But for Kosher dairy product also there are some specific laws and it must be followed.

• The dairy product must come from a Kosher animal.
• Utensil for meat based product and dairy product should always be separate.
• The dairy product must be prepared by using Kosher utensils and equipment
• Dairy product should never be mixed with any meat-based byproducts such as gelatin or such other enzymes.
• Limited cheeses are Kosher. That's because they contain an enzyme named rennet that comes from cows. Kosher cheese can't have any animal-based enzyme.

1. Pareve food- It is a third food category and according to Jewish law fish and eggs are both considered as pareve and it must meet the Kosher food norms.  Classification of pareve food is they do not contain milk or meat.

• Fish such as tuna, mackerel salmon, halibut is considered Kosher because it has fins and scales,
• Fish can be cooked and can be eaten alongside meat or dairy products. It does not required separate utensil like meat and dairy products.
• All egg must be supervised separately and can be eaten if there are from Kosher bird.
• Egg also can be prepared and consumed with meat or dairy products

• Fruits and vegetables - Fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables are generally categorized as pareve. But there are some guidelines for fruits and vegetable to be consumed as Kosher. Before eating you have to wash them or peel of the fruits and vegetable to make sure that they do not have any insect. Preservative food items like canned or frozen food is only considered Kosher if it was processed using Kosher equipment or ingredients.

1. Other Kosher food- Any food that is not meat or dairy, including fish, eggs is known as plant-based foods. Plant based food contains grains, nuts and seeds.

• Baked bread and grains- Bread is also popular food among Jewish people. Grains are considered Kosher and they use grains to bake the bread. But during the baking process some other ingredients like oil, enzymes are also used and that’s why not all the breads are Kosher. As per norms, during the baking all ingredient and equipment should be Kosher and then only the bread can be certified as Kosher.
• Seed, oil and nuts- If any nut or seed is consumed in its natural form then it is Kosher. But if they’ve been processed, they have to be certified Kosher. During the processing guidelines of Kosher food must be followed. Oil is Kosher if it is extracted directly from seed or nut and kept without preservatives. But if the preservatives being used in oil then it must fulfill the criteria of Kosher.