Kosher in a Nutshell

The term “Kosher” means “proper” or “fit”. (It has nothing to with “the Rabbi’s blessing”.)

Kosher laws are based on principles set forth in the Bible with elucidation in Rabbinic literature such as the Talmud and the Code of Jewish Law. 

All foods and their components and derivatives are divided into 4 categories:

• Meat

• Dairy 

• Pareve (Neutral)

• Non-Kosher, which includes mixtures of Meat and Dairy, and mixtures of Meat and Fish.  These categories are explained below.

Meat

These include:

• Animals that chew their cud (generally cattle and sheep), and have split hooves;

• All species of poultry;

• The animals must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner by a trained ritual slaughterer (“shochet”). The meat must then undergo a soaking and salting procedure to remove the blood (“Koshering”). The entire procedure must be performed under the supervision of a Rabbinic supervisor (“mashgiach”).

Dairy

This includes milk and all its derivatives. 

Milk from a non-Kosher animal (e.g. pig, camel) is not Kosher. 

Even a very small amount of meat or dairy (or their derivative) in a product gives that product a “meat” or “dairy” status. Furthermore, food processed with heat on equipment previously used for a dairy product, acquires dairy status unless the cleaning process complies with kosher sterilisation.

Pareve (Neutral)

Everything Kosher that does not fall under the above two categories i.e. neither meat nor dairy. 

Included under ‘pareve’ are eggs, plants, and Kosher fish (with fins and scales). 

While meat and dairy products and their derivatives may not be mixed or eaten together in any amount, ‘pareve’ (neutral) products can be mixed with either meat or dairy products.

Fish is an exception - it may not be mixed with meat.

Non-Kosher 

There are two categories of non-Kosher:

Intrinsically non-Kosher

• All animals that do not chew their cud or those that do not have split hooves.  

• Most birds outside of poultry.  

• All animals and birds that have not been slaughtered, soaked, salted and inspected according to Jewish Law.  

• All shellfish.  

• All insects.  

• All grape derived products that have not been supervised by a Rabbi.  

• All hard cheese products that have not been supervised by a Rabbi.  

• All mixtures of meat and dairy ingredients and their derivatives.  

• All mixtures of meat and fish.

Non-Kosher processing methods

This may apply to food and ingredients whose manufacture includes heat processing, i.e., spray-dried products, reacted flavours, production of fatty acids, canned foods, etc. If the equipment has been previously used for non-Kosher products, it renders any Kosher product non-Kosher. The Kosher product is viewed as absorbing the non-Kosher material from the walls of the vessels. However, if the equipment undergoes a special cleaning process called “Kosherisation” under supervision of a Rabbi, it can then be used for Kosher products.

Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick

Senior Rabbi Awarded Australia’s Prestigious Honor

(This Content Was Published at HERE)

Q&A About Kosher

What is Mehadrin?

Mehadrin refers to the most stringent level of kosher supervision. Kosher food is prepared to meet the specific requirements of Jewish law, but compliance may be more or less strict depending on where you live and the knowledge of the community there. Anyone who chooses to eat mehadrin isn't taking advantage of any leniency and follows the highest standards of kosher.

Continental Kosher Butchers only manufacture products of mehadrin standard.

Who are Kosher Australia and a brief history?

Established in 1968 in response to a need for proper Kosher food for the Australian Jewish Community, Kosher Australia has grown to be the largest and most relied upon Kosher authority in the Asia Pacific region servicing more than 700 Australian and international companies from flavour manufacturers to retail outlets and caterers. Kosher Australia certifies more than 25,000 products and over 750,000 kosher meals are prepared annually under Kosher Australia supervision.

Over 10,000 locally made retail products are supervised by Kosher Australia including such products as Vegemite, Weet Bix, Vita Brits, SPC fruits, Heinz tomato soup, Rosella sauces, Schweppes lemonade, Berri juices, Vitasoy, IXL jams, Sunrice rice cakes, Chobani yogurts, Smith potato chips, and many other well-known products. 

Kosher products are found in the printed Kosher Australia food Guide (the 46th edition was recently released) and the Kosher Australia app (freely available from the Apple and Google stores).

Kosher Australia consists of a team of professionals in food technology, manufacturing and kosher supervision, guided by the leading Australian Rabbis who are acknowledged world experts in the field of Kashrus.

What do Kosher Australia do to ensure the highest level of adherence to Kashrus at their licensed facilities; in particular meat?

Kosher Australia have trained and experienced staff of impeccable trust stationed at all facets of the Continental Kosher Butcher operations. 

At the abattoir, the typical team consists of four shochtim and a mashgiach with combined experience of over 100 years. There is the shochet (the person who performs the shechita), bodek sakinim/simonim (a shochet who will check the knife used as well as to ensure that the cut was done correctly severing the correct organs), bodek pnim (a shochet who will check the inside of the animal’s lungs) and a bodek chutz (who will inspect the outside of the animal’s lungs). 

At the factory there are 3 skilled menakrim (Kosher Australia staff trained in deveining) on duty as long as the factory is operating. All meat is kept under coded lock and key, which are controlled by Kosher Australia staff. Continental Kosher Butcher staff do not have access to these locks or keys.

At the Continental Kosher Butcher retail outlet, Kosher Australia supervisors are ever present and as at the factory, all meat is kept under Kosher Australia lock and key.

Kosher Meat – An Overview

Kosher slaughter is both extremely simple and extremely complicated. The following is an overview.

Kosher Animals

The first step in kosher meat is the actual species of meat. Chicken, turkey, and geese are all kosher species; there are varying traditions regarding the Kashrus of other fowls, such as duck, quail, pheasant, squab and pigeons. Birds of prey are generally not kosher. Kosher bird species are based on Mesorah or Tradition from previous generations.

For larger animals, kosher laws permit the consumption of species that both chew their cud and have split hooves. This includes, cows, sheep, goats, bison, deer, elk and even giraffe, though beef and lamb are generally the most common meat in the kosher marketplace.

Kosher Slaughter (Shechitah)

Having a kosher species of animal is only the first step to making kosher meat. The animal must be slaughtered in a very specific manner. The shochet(slaughterer) is highly trained in both the act of the slaughter and all the specific laws that must be followed. Additionally, the shochet must be of high moral character and have a high level of yira'at shamayim (Fear of G-d). These requirements ensure that the act of slaughter occurs with the utmost level of respect for the animal and for the laws of Kashrus. The training process for a shochet is long and arduous and typically takes years, and ensures that only individuals with the skills and temperament can perform this holy task.

The shochet uses a perfectly sharp knife that is at least twice the length of the animals neck (~6 inches for poultry, ~18 inches for beef) and checked against the shochet's fingernail for nicks. Any nick at all would tear the flesh of the animal, causing great pain and rendering the slaughter invalid. After making a blessing, the shochet uses a very fast, continuous cutting motion to quickly sever the trachea, oesophagus, and major blood vessels in the neck. This causes the animal a minimum amount of pain and ensures a quick drop of blood pressure to the brain and nearly immediate loss of consciousness. 

Kosher Inspection:

The lungs and innards of kosher slaughtered animals must be inspected by a trained bodek (inspector) for imperfections that might render the animal traif (non-kosher, literally ‘torn’) and unfit for kosher consumption. During the processing, the lungs are inspected by the bodek for adhesions, both between the lobes of the lungs, and between the lobes and the ribcage. After the internal inspection, the lungs are removed and inspected again by the bodek. Small and superficial adhesions are investigated and removed to make sure they are not masking any perforation of the lungs. The lungs are inflated with air and submerged in water to check for any bubbles that would indicate a perforation. Animals with lungs that are free of perforations and major adhesions can be ruled glatt kosher, literally, ‘smooth’. Once an animal is ruled kosher it is tagged with special seals to prevent any confusion with non-kosher animals.

(Continental Kosher Butchers only produces Glatt Kosher meats from animals that are top grade. Animals with lungs that do not meet the high kosher standards of our certifiers are sold on the non-kosher market.)

As if it wasn't complicated enough, inspection of the organs is just one step in the process of making meat kosher. As is the custom in most places around the world, only the front half of the red meat animals are used for kosher consumption, due to the presence of forbidden fats and nerves in the rear of the animal that are very difficult to remove. After separation of the hind from the fore, there are a number of major blood vessels that must be removed from the meat in a process known as nikkur or traiboring (deveining/porging) that is performed under close rabbinical supervision by highly skilled butchers. 

Soaking, Salting, and Labelling

Jewish law prohibits the consumption of the lifeblood of the animal. All kosher meat and poultry must undergo a special process to remove it. The meat or poultry is soaked in clean water for thirty minutes, then removed to drip dry. After a few minutes of dripping, the meat is salted and left to hang for sixty minutes to further draw out any remaining blood. After sixty minutes of salting, the meat is washed three times in cold, clean water to remove any remaining salt. The result: clean, fresh, and kosher meat. After the final washing, the meat is dried, further butchered into retail cuts, and packaged and sealed for safety and Kashrus.