Rabbi Menachem Genack of Englewood, Chief Executive Officer of the Orthodox Union’s worldwide Kosher Division, delivered the Benediction today at the Inaugural ceremony for Governor Jon S. Corzine in Trenton. Rabbi Genack served on the Governor-Elect’s transition team for the Department of Corrections, the second largest item in the New Jersey budget. The group was charged with reviewing the Department to make it more efficient and effective and to stem the tide of recidivism affecting the former prison population.
In addition to his Orthodox Union position, which makes him one of the foremost authorities on Jewish dietary law, and in which he administers the world’s largest kosher agency, which certifies over 400,000 products produced in nearly 5,000 plants located in 83 countries, Rabbi Genack serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, an Orthodox Union member congregation.
By Rabbi Howard Katzenstein
Everyone, it seems, hates regulatory paperwork. So here is some good news: the Orthodox Union is now available to help your company comply with the Kosher laws of New York State and New Jersey.
Tea is a traditional industry in Sri Lanka, which took root in the late 18th century when Sri Lanka was a British colony better known as Ceylon. Today, tea manufacturing and exporting is one of the largest industries there. Heritage Teas Premium Services (Pvt) Ltd is one of the leading exporters of high quality teas from Sri Lanka, with a global customer base extending over 35 countries.
By Horacio Clein (President, Laboratorios Heredia)
When a company decides to sell its products worldwide and therefore needs to improve its quality standards, and if the company is from Argentina, a good product or attractive packaging are not sufficient. At Heredia, we knew that the OU symbol would assure that our company’s standards would be acceptable everywhere.
By Rabbi David Bistricer
One of the great conveniences today enjoyed by the food consumer is bagged fresh salads. Washed, mixed, and nicely packaged, these products eliminate the annoyance of salad preparation and are just waiting to grace one’s table. However, nowadays even seemingly innocuous products must require kosher supervision. Bagged fresh salads are not immune to this phenomenon, as Rabbanim Hamachshirim and kosher agencies face the challenge of certifying these products as insect-free.
By Rabbi Donneal Epstein
Approximately twenty-five years ago, the Chinese government decided to remake the country. China was up to that point a completely Stalinist-Maoist economy, wallowing in poverty, despite the fact that it is the world’s third largest country, blessed with various climates and abundant natural resources.
By Rabbi Mordechai Grunberg
There is no doubt that anyone who has visited China in the last decade as a tourist or businessman has seen the unbelievable growth taking place in every phase of the Chinese economy, save for population. (As of this writing the population is holding at approximately 1.3 billion people.) Like any other industry in China, the food industry is hardly an exception. When numbers are spoken about in China they are not in terms of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but rather in terms of millions and billions.
The process of certifying an item as OU kosher is based entirely on halacha – Jewish law. OU RC’s (Rabbinic Coordinators) and RFR’s (Rabbinic Field Representatives) are of course well versed in halacha and apply Jewish law in all aspects of the certification process. During the course of their work, however, when unique situations arise with no clear cut answer or precedent to halachic questions, rabbis in the field and their coordinators in New York have a mighty resource to call on – OU poskim, or experts at the highest levels in Jewish law. The following is a case study on how OU poskim make their decisions, and on the dynamic process which is involved in their deliberations. For this case study, we must travel all the way to Australia, home of a dairy company named Murray Goulburn.
With kosher certification from the Orthodox Union, Manischewitz has announced the introduction of a new line of pareve (non-dairy) cake mixes. This new line, which consists of Extra Moist Yellow and Chocolate Pareve cake mixes, was introduced at the Kosherfest exposition in November at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
By Rabbi Gavriel Price
A small sign hanging above the produce in a local supermarket reads, “Fruits and vegetables have been coated with food-grade vegetable, petroleum, beeswax, and/or lac-resin based wax or resin to maintain freshness… No fruits or vegetables have been coated with animal-based wax”. The sign is the result of efforts by citizens groups demanding disclosure of ingredients in coatings used on fresh produce. The produce industry, citing the impracticality of constantly changing signs and claiming that disclosure would compromise the confidentiality of coatings ingredients, resisted these demands. The FDA regulation that emerged in 1994 is the result of a compromise between the two groups. Although the sign does disclose some information, it only tells part of a much larger story.
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator in the Orthodox Union’s Kosher Division, has been named Vice President for Communications and Marketing of OU Kosher, Orthodox Union President Stephen J. Savitsky and OU Kosher CEO Rabbi Menachem Genack announced today.
By Rabbi Menachem Adler
THE ENZYME INDUSTRY and its component, the food grade enzyme industry, are areas that have grown rapidly over the last forty to fifty years. Enzymes are currently used to create all sorts of different properties in foods, throughout food manufacturing. Examples include the starch industry, production of cheese and other dairy products, bakery products, the egg industry, juice and wine production – and we could go on and on. Enzymes have been found to do all sorts of interesting things such as liquefy solids, sweeten starch syrups, curdle milk for cheese production, act as a clarifier in juice production, de-sugar egg whites to prevent browning during drying – and again the list goes on and on. It can truly be said that the use of food grade enzymes is now "mainstream,” as their usage is found in all sorts of production situations, large, medium and small.
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