What is kosher? How to get kosher certification?

Kosher certification ensures consumers that their products comply with their specific religious dietary requirements.

Kosher isn’t a style of cooking. It’s a culinary custom and religious practice that dates back thousands of years.

The custom goes beyond the ingredients and includes the equipment, facilities, and utensils used in the entire production process. This requires companies looking to produce kosher food to get certifications that ensure their products align with kosher standards.

But how do you get kosher certified and serve respectable food? What does the process look like? Let’s find out.

What is kosher?

The term “kosher” means “proper” or “fit” in Hebrew and describes the types of solid food or beverages a Jewish person can eat according to the kashrut, the Jewish dietary law. It implies that the food consumed is:

• Derived from animals, poultry, and fish that are allowed.
• Prepared correctly using the ritual method of shehitah (the Jewish method of slaughter they consider a humane method). It involves a single, deep stroke across the neck.
• Taken through a salting process to ensure a complete draining of extractable blood. This must be done within 72 hours of slaughter.
• Not mixed during the cooking process, such as dairy and meat.
• Prepared using separate utensils and equipment.
  
  

Kosher laws help Jewish people ensure their food conforms to the Kosher terms laid out in the Torah and is needed in the market for spiritual reasons.

Importantly, blessings recited over meals by Jewish people do not make the food kosher.

What does the kosher law say?

For the purposes of kashrut, food must meet a set of regulations outlined in the Torah — which rabbis further interpret to accommodate contemporary contexts — to be labeled “kosher.”

It also has to be under the oversight of a trained mashgiach. They ensure that all food preparation aligns with all established guidelines. Some of the kashrut rules include:

• Consume seafood with scales and fins.
• Exclude bottom feeders and catfish.
• Avoid eggs with red blood spots, pig meat, and the flesh of birds of prey (non-kosher birds).
• Use kosher cheese, yogurt, butter, and cream.
• Consume poultry that is raised and slaughtered in a particular manner (excluding birds of prey).
• Ensure non-kosher food does not come in contact with kosher food preparation surfaces.
• Ensure all food is clean and has no blood because it makes products trief (non-kosher food).
• Use red meat from animals that chew cud and those that possess split hooves (such as beef, mutton, lamb, venison, and ox). Other animals are considered non-kosher animals.
• Adhere to specific slaughter and treatment methods, such as slaughtering an animal’s throat in a single cut and ensuring the blood is drained by a shochet, a person trained to slaughter animals the Jewish way.

Additional rules involve never serving or eating meat at the same time as dairy, keeping all equipment and utensils to work with meat and dairy separately, and waiting one to six hours to eat dairy after consuming meat.

Moreover, maintaining the integrity of kosher food requires strict measures to prevent cross-contamination with non-kosher items or utensils that have come into contact with unkosher substances. Many kosher kitchens also use separate stoves for kosher foods.

In this regard, FoodDocs offers monitoring tasks and checklists that your team can use to keep kosher and non-kosher kitchen items separate. Use FoodDocs' AI-powered solutions that can automatically generate key monitoring tasks to ensure that no cross-contamination occurs in your kosher processing.

What are kosher products?

Kosher products are food types and beverages that meet the rules of Jewish dietary law and contain kosher-sensitive ingredients. They have three main types:

1. Meat. It includes poultry and mammal meat, bones, and broth. Animal fat and meat particles are also considered meat for purposes of kashrut.
2. Dairy foods. Dairy dishes include yogurt, butter, cheese, and milk. It also includes eggs from kosher birds like chicken. Most margarines are also considered dairy for kosher purposes.
3. Pareve. It includes any food that isn’t dairy or meat, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish. For example, your favorite vegetarian dish, grape juice, fruit juice, grape products, and other raw fruits would fall under this category.

Each food type and beverage has to meet specific rules to be certified “kosher” under Jewish law. This is ensured by independent kosher certification bodies, which will be discussed later in the article.

What are the levels of kosher?

There are no levels of kosher on its own. However, there are different levels of how strictly people observe kosher practices.

Some are more relaxed and may eat certain foods that may be non-kosher-certified. This comes with risks, as there's a chance that non-kosher items might contaminate things that are originally kosher.

However, other people may uphold a very strict standard of kosher observance, only purchasing kosher-certified products. This is often practiced in a kosher household.

What foods are kosher?

Many kosher rules focus on how animal-based foods are slaughtered and prepared. Let’s understand which types of food are labeled as kosher.

1. Meat

In the Torah, it's mentioned that kosher mammals are the ones that have cloven hooves and chew their cud (ruminants). These include:

• Antelope
• Bison
• Buffalo
• Cow
• Deer
• Gazelle
• Goat
• Ibex
• Sheep

Animals not classified as kosher include camels, kangaroos, horses, pigs, rabbits, and squirrels. Jewish dietary law also forbids the consumption of an entire animal. For example, an animal product made from specific cuts of beef from the hind quarters, such as flank, round, shank, short loin, or sirloin, will be considered a non-kosher dish.

Aside from that, the Torah identifies 24 species of fowl as forbidden, considering all other birds to be kosher. However, in practice, people consume only those birds with a well-established kosher tradition. These include:

• Chicken
• Duck
• Goose
• Turkey

2. Dairy

Any food made from or containing milk falls into the dairy category, which includes milk, butter, yogurt, and all types of soft/hard/cream cheese. Even a tiny amount of dairy can categorize a food item as dairy.

For dairy products to be called kosher, they must meet the following criteria:

• They must be derived from kosher animals. Milk from non-kosher animals is considered non-kosher milk.
• The entire process, from production to processing and packaging, must occur on kosher equipment.
• All components must be kosher and devoid of any meat derivatives like gelatin or animal rennet.

3. Pareve

Pareve are food items that fall outside the categories of meat and dairy. They include candies and snacks, coffee, eggs, fish, fruit, grains, pasta, soft drinks, tea, unprocessed juices, and vegetables.

While pareve foods are less complex to deal with than meat or dairy, it's important to keep an eye on the following:

• Eggs must be inspected for the presence of blood spots, which are not considered kosher.
• Fish must have both fins and easily removable scales to be considered kosher.
• Certain fruits, vegetables, and grains need to be carefully examined for the presence of small insects and larvae, as their consumption is not kosher.

Finally, pareve foods can lose their kosher status if processed on equipment used for meat or dairy — or if additives are introduced.

What are kosher symbols on food?

Every kosher food item and beverage is marked with a hechsher, a Kashrut symbol that shows the product meets kashrut laws. However, these symbols vary since each certifying agency has a different symbol.

Common kosher symbols include a star inside a circle (Star-K), a "K" inside a circle (OK Kosher), and a "U" inside a circle (Orthodox Union).

Which are unreliable kosher symbols?

Certain kosher symbols are considered unreliable due to the training, credentials, or personal religious practices of the company creating them. These include:

• K
• Triangle K
• Tablet K

However, it’s important to note that some products marked with a "K" are under reliable supervision, such as Kellogg's cereal.

What is kosher certification?

Kosher certification is an official endorsement given by certifying agencies that are responsible for inspecting and overseeing food production processes to ensure they meet kosher standards.

This certification may be required by the following businesses:

• Contract manufacturing companies
• Food manufacturers
• Jewish food preparation companies
• Eateries and restaurants

A kosher certificate confirms that a product has undergone thorough checking and monitoring following kosher laws. It also informs customers about specific kosher categories the product may fall under, such as meat, dairy, or Passover status.6

FoodDocs' smart Food Safety Management System helps companies achieve kosher status by offering monitoring tasks to prevent cross-contamination between kosher and non-kosher items, food traceability to ensure all ingredients are kosher, and a real-time dashboard to maintain food safety (which is a requirement for kosher certification).

What does kosher-certified mean?

Kosher-certified means that a qualified Rabbinic organization has overseen a food item's production to ensure it complies with Jewish dietary laws. It focuses on two key areas:

1. Ingredients – A kosher certification makes sure that all ingredients and sub-ingredients in a product -- including cold food and hot food -- meet kosher standards.
2. Equipment – It ensures that the equipment used during the production process -- such as cooking surfaces -- has been “kosherized,” has kosher status, and can’t be used for non-kosher production.

A trained rabbinic field representative also conducts unannounced visits to the company’s production site regularly to verify that no changes have occurred that could compromise its kosher status.

What are the types of kosher certification?

There are different types of kosher certifications, each signifying a different level of kosher law implementation.

Current kosher certifications are divided into the following categories:

1. Kosher Standard – It is the standard kosher certification offered for each product.
2. Kosher Mehadrin – It is a high-level certificate. However, it depends on the type of product and the organizational body issuing it.
3. 365-Day Certified Kosher – This type of certification has a one-year duration.
4. Certified Kosher Passover – It is a certification that specifically certifies a company to sell food and beverages that could be eaten on Passover.

Moreover, there are over 1,100 kosher certification organizations in the world. However, in the US, five of the largest agencies certify more than 80% of the kosher food sold in markets. They are known for reliable kosher certification and include the following:

1. Organized Kashrut Laboratories (OK)

• OK certifies over 140,000 products that are made by more than 1,500 companies around the globe. Some common kosher certifications provided by the company include:
• OK D CY – It stands for kosher Cholov Yisroel (“Jewish”) dairy and means that an observant Jew was present throughout the production process of the product.
• OK D – It means kosher dairy.
• OK DE – It stands for kosher dairy equipment and refers to a pareve product that was made on kosherized lines.
• OK F – It suggests that a product contains fish-based ingredients.
• OK P – This symbol stands for the Kosher-for-Passover certification and indicates that the product is kosher for Passover (Pesach).
• OK M – It shows that a meat product is kosher.
• OK Pareve – It means that the product isn’t meat or dairy. These food items haven’t been heated or prepared in any way.
• OK PY – It represents the Pas Yisroel (Jewish baked good) standard, which applies to any baked good made from flour.

2. Orthodox Union (OU)

Considered the gold standard of kosher certification, OUK certifies about 70% of kosher food worldwide. The company uses symbols for product certification, such as:

• OU – It indicates that the product is pareve but can’t be used during Passover.
• OU-D – It shows that the product either contains dairy products or derivatives.
• OU-DE – It suggests that the product was made on kosherized dairy equipment.
• OU-M – It means that the product contains meat/meat ingredients.
• OU-F – It indicates that the product contains fish ingredients.
• OU-P - It means that the product is kosher for Passover.

As of 2019, OUK certifies almost one million products produced by 12,000 companies in 104 countries.

3. Kof-K

Kof-K certifies over 300,000 products that are produced by 4,000+ companies like Pepsi, Unilever, and Kerry every year. It also gives certifications to eateries in the US.

4. Star-K

Star-K certifies tens of thousands of food items and beverages around the world every year. It is trusted by Orthodox Jews.

Aside from the standard kosher certification, the organization also provides a Star-D certification that helps customers ensure a milk product is produced under Rabbinic supervision.

It also gives access to the Start-S certification label, which ensures that food items with kitniyot ingredients are safe for Passover.

5. CRC

CRC is a non-profit kosher transportation and trucking certifier that also grants letters of kosher certification to thousands of food companies every year.

Which agency you choose depends on your preference. But all of them have more or less the same requirements for certification. Let's check these requirements out in the next section.

What are kosher certification requirements?

Since the kosher certification industry is self-regulated, certification requirements vary from organization to organization. Moreover, every manufacturer and company has unique specifications, which means unique kosher solutions.

For instance, the kosher certification process for a restaurant or caterer will be different than that of a manufacturer. This is why there isn’t a single list of requirements for getting kosher-certified.

However, companies can increase their chances of getting certified by meeting the following general requirements:

• Follow food safety practices by training workers on food safety and food sanitation.
• Use only certain types of meat kosher, such as that from sheep, goats, chicken, and scaled fish, in products.
• Utilize specific parts of permitted animals, such as the tongue, the forequarters (from the shoulder joint to the breast), and the hindquarters (from the hip joint to the tail).
• Ensure the meat of permitted animals undergoes a specific preparation process that includes ritual slaughter, soaking, and salting of meat for a period of time to remove all traces of blood from the meat.
• Use ingredients that are kosher and prepared by Jewish dietary laws and traditions. For instance, if a company sources meat-based materials, they must ensure they’re using kosher meat, such as cows or goats.
• Make sure the final product doesn’t contain blood (or blood vessels) or animal fat from around the vital organs of cattle.
• Prepare the food in a clean, kosherized environment and use utensils (such as sets of pots) and equipment designated specifically for kosher use.
• Store, handle, and serve food items in a way that prevents them from coming into contact with non-kosher ingredients and items. 
• Serve food in an environment that is free from non-kosher items.
• Ensure food items don’t contain gelatine, rennet, or casein and aren’t more than three years old, making them non-kosher.
• Carefully check and clean all plant-based material to remove insects and bugs because they aren’t kosher.
• Do not combine dairy and meat products in any food item. The contact with meat may make dairy food non-kosher. This means companies cannot sell pre-packaged pizzas, cheeseburgers, and fettuccine as kosher items.
• Ensure your company isn’t wholly Jewish-owned. This may conflict with Passover requirements Jewish people are required to uphold.

Companies can look at a flow chart that describes their production process to make sure they meet the kosher-certification criteria.

How do you get kosher certification?

Getting kosher-certified requires you to consider every ingredient in your product, your contract manufacturer's production process, and how you’re selling your product before you can ever get certified.

Let’s understand how you can do that and get a kosher certification:

1. Check your production process for compliance

Before starting the kosher certification process, you should check your production line for kosher compliance. This includes understanding the kosher process, meeting basic kashruth requirements like preventing dairy-to-meat use of utensils, using kosher ingredients, and serving meat from allowed animals. It's also important to understand the details of kashrut and kosher slaughter, such as the proper time of slaughter and the use of kosher slaughterers.

However, if you find it difficult to understand which requirements you should adhere to, make sure your production process is following general food sanitation and food safety practices.

2. Conduct an internal audit

To ensure your product process is kosher-compliant, it might be a good idea to conduct an internal audit of your company. This step involves a thorough review of your production processes, ingredient sourcing, employee training, and overall adherence to kosher principles. It's essential to identify and rectify any areas that may not comply with kosher standards. This self-assessment ensures that you are well-prepared for the external auditing process.

3. Select a certification company

The next step is to choose a certification company. This may require contacting representatives or scheduling consultations to understand which company is a better partner for you.

For instance, if you have a private-label product that is produced once every year, you may only need to re-kasher your equipment at that time. This may require you to go with a company that covers private labels.

However, if your production line produces kosher products and non-kosher on alternate days, you will require re-kashering every other day. Many audit agencies may balk at providing this service, so you’d have to find one that does.

4. Send your application

After your consultation, send the kosher certification application to your chosen auditor. You can do this by mail, online, or fax, depending on your choice. However, before doing that, make sure your application includes the following information and documents:

• Company profile – This should include a description of your company operations, needs, and goals. You should also provide the contact details of the team working with the auditor.
• Plant profile – This should talk about everyone in charge of production (like production workers and food handlers), material management, packaging design, and advertising. If you perform these services in-house, you only need to submit your company profile. But if you employ a contract manufacturer, you’ll need to provide details about them as well.
• Raw material listing – You need to provide the certification agency with a list of all the ingredients you use in your products and the contact details of their manufacturers. To ensure your product is certified kosher, you should use kosher ingredients that have already been certified.
• Product approval request – Your application must contain a written request explaining how you want your product(s) to be designated, e.g., meat, dairy, or pareve.

All of these documents will help ensure that your application is processed as quickly as possible.

5. Get the initial inspection done

Once your application has been received, a field representative or auditor will visit your facility. They’ll review your production line, supply chain, and general premises to ensure they comply with Jewish dietary practices.

After they have performed the audit, the representative will file a written report to the headquarters.

6. Ensure compliance with the certification

A senior rabbinic coordinator will review your inspection report to ensure it complies with the kashruth. If any issues pop up, they’ll let you know what changes you need to make to apply for successful certification.

Once you’ve made the required changes, such as sourcing material from certified kosher sources or using separate equipment for kosher produce, you need to apply for another audit to confirm your compliance.

However, if the rabbinic coordinator goes forward with your application, you’ll move to the next step.

7. Sign the contract/pay the fees

If you’ve met all Jewish dietary laws and food safety rules, your coordinator will draw up a contract that includes standard clauses, fees, and special clauses that address your specific requirements.

The contract may also have two schedules:

• Schedule A – This schedule includes the list of raw materials and ingredients you’re approved to use.
• Schedule B – This list includes the final certified products and brands with their designations, such as OK-P or OU-F.

8. Review compliance and receive the certification

Once you sign the contract and pay the fees, your inspector will ensure you comply with the agreement clauses and then issue your kosher certificate. At this point, you’re free to begin production.

However, in some cases, you might need to send in your packaging to ensure you comply with all certification label usage requirements.

9. Implement proper product labeling

Once you receive kosher certification, you can use the appropriate kosher symbols on your product packaging. This step involves designing and printing labels that include the kosher certification symbol (like "OU," "K," or "Star-K").

It's important to adhere to the guidelines provided by your certification agency regarding the size, color, and placement of these symbols.

Additionally, you should have a process in place for ensuring that only products that meet the kosher standards are labeled with the kosher symbol. Regular checks should be conducted to prevent any mislabeling or misuse of the kosher symbols.

10. Set up ongoing monitoring tasks

Your job is not done yet. Once you receive the certification, you want to establish a system for continuous monitoring and quality control to maintain kosher compliance. This includes regular internal audits, staff training refreshers, and periodic reviews of suppliers and materials.

It's also vital to stay updated with any changes in kosher standards and to have a plan for prompt adjustments if needed. Regular communication with your certification agency is crucial to ensure that your practices remain in line with current kosher requirements.

FoodDocs can help you every step of the way during the certification process. It's especially useful for enforcing the general food safety practices at your business before an external audit. It can also help you with an internal audit by allowing you to set up customizable monitoring tasks and offering a real-time food safety dashboard. 

But that's not all -- FoodDoc's two-in-one traceability system can help you ensure the kosher status of your entire food chain and present this to the auditors in an organized manner.

How much does kosher certification cost?

The cost of getting kosher certification varies for every supervision agency and depends on several factors, such as:

• The simplicity or complexity of the product you’re looking to get certified. For instance, meat-based products may have more complex certification requirements, increasing the certification cost.
• The ingredients and equipment used in the production process.
• The production process of your products and whether you use non-kosher products in production.
• Whether you have a dedicated facility for your product production (which requires direct supervision) or work with a contract manufacturer (which may require indirect supervision, with the costs borne by the external party).
• The location of your plant or restaurant kitchen.
• The assessment made by the Rabbinic authorities.
• The number of visits the administrator has to make to your facility every year.

You’ll most likely have to pay anywhere between $2,000 and $50,000 per year for certification, depending on the above factors.

How can FoodDocs help you get kosher certified?

Kosher certification requires you to manually submit every ingredient included in each of your products while ensuring you don’t make a mistake that would result in the instant cancellation of your application.

That’s where FoodDocs’ Smart Food Safety Management System can help.

Our modern-day food technology can help you automatically upload and share your ingredients via our built-in food traceability system. You also don’t need to double-check your ingredient list because the system ensures that you get it right on the first try.

1. Customizable monitoring system to ensure kashering tasks are completed on time
2. Food traceability to ensure the kosher status of your entire food chain
3. Food safety audit to help you prepare your establishment for external auditors
4. Real-time dashboard to ensure you never miss food safety tasks
   
   

1. Customizable monitoring system to ensure kashering tasks are completed on time

Monitoring tasks in FoodDocs software

Kosher laws are extensive, which means you need to account for a thousand variables in your system. This requires 24/7 surveillance. Fortunately, our monitoring system can help you reduce the workload by helping you customize your tracking.

You can generate automatic tasks like:

• Cleaning checklists for koshering your production equipment
• Temperature logs to ensure all pareve food items aren’t affected by the warehouse temperature
• Cooking logs to make sure your food handlers are ensuring all kosher food is cooked the right way

You can also make checklists and detailed forms according to your company's requirements and code-in standards that all food handlers and producers need to comply with. This will help you track kosher compliance across the entire food chain.

2. Food traceability to ensure the kosher status of your entire food chain

Complying with Jewish dietary laws requires you to keep track of product manufacturing and movement along the food chain.

With the help of our two-in-one traceability system, you can track everything from ingredient acquisition to product packaging — down to their product name, batch number, expiry date, and product yield. This will help you ensure food hygiene, safety, and kosher law compliance.

FoodDocs' traceability log

You can also use our smart traceability system to access information about ingredients and production batches easily, making it a breeze to submit an ingredient list with your kosher certification application.

And if you miss something, you can use our advanced search option to track and access it quickly.

3. Food safety audit to help you prepare your establishment for external auditors

While you need to ensure the food you’re producing is kosher, you also have to make sure it’s safe to eat because food safety is important.

FoodDocs helps you enforce all the important steps of food safety by setting clear guidelines for every task. This enables you to ensure you can find and fix all potential issues before having your auditor come in for a facility review.

You can also use what you learn from our periodic task reports to understand your team’s performance, enforce standards where needed, and improve compliance.

4. Real-time dashboard to ensure you never miss food safety tasks

Real-time dashboard from FoodDocs software

If you’re looking to keep track of your food chain, our real-time dashboard can come in handy. It helps you control everything going in and out of your system. This ensures that you can stay compliant with Jewish dietary laws without moving from your computer.

You can also use our dashboard to identify compliance areas where you might be lagging behind. This can help you enforce kosher food safety rules that make sure you’re complying with all kashruth laws. It will also let you save at least 20% of the time it would take you to do it manually.

Remember, many kosher consumers check the certificates of restaurants before eating at them, so getting kosher certification is a good idea if you operate in a kosher market. If all of that sounds like what you need, try our free 14-day trial to make the laws of kosher work for you without sacrificing efficiency. Save hours during the application stage using our automated food certification compliance software.

You can also schedule a one-on-one demo with our experts. They’ll answer all your questions and help you understand why FoodDocs is for you.

To wrap it up, Kosher food is not just about what is consumed but also how it is prepared and served. From carefully examining meat meals and dairy ingredients to issuing Kashrut certificates, every aspect is governed by detailed rules. Foods like soft cheeses, ice cream, and even home-baked bread and breakfast cereals have specific guidelines to ensure compliance with Jewish dietary laws.

Importantly, the process extends to kitchen practices, including using separate dishes for dairy and meat and ensuring counter surfaces and cooking appliances meet Kashrut requirements.

Even seemingly small details like the blood content in meat and the waiting period between consuming different types of foods are carefully regulated.

As a food producer, this means understanding Kosher food involves appreciating a complex set of religious, cultural, and culinary practices that go beyond mere ingredient declaration.

It's a holistic approach encompassing everything from slaughter methods (like the special broiling process) to ensuring food products like Jewish milk adhere to these ancient yet ever-relevant laws. If kashering your kitchen is too much to handle on your own, use our smart food safety management system to streamline kosher food production today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

What does it mean to be kosher?

Anything that is kosher is “fit” or “proper.” In the case of food, kosher means that items like meat, dairy, vegetables, fish, and fruits meet kashruth, the Jewish dietary law.

What are the three rules to eating kosher?

According to Jewish dietary law, kosher food must meet the following three rules:

1. Meat must be derived from animals that have been mentioned in the Torah, such as mammals that chew the cud and have split hooves, as well as poultry like chicken and ducks.
2. Fish must have scales and fins. Anything other, such as shellfish, is forbidden.
3. Dairy and meat must not be eaten together, such as in pasta, burgers, or other types of food.

What kind of food is kosher?

Food that complies with Jewish dietary law is kosher. It includes scaled fish like trout, meat and poultry, all vegetables and fruits (as long as they’re clean and bug-free), dairy products such as milk and cheese, legumes, and flour.

Products made from the meat of pigs or birds of prey are forbidden. Moreover, food items that combine dairy and meat are also not allowed, according to the Torah.

Is pork kosher?

No. Pork isn’t considered kosher since pigs don’t chew the cud — a requirement of the Judaic dietary law mentioned in the Torah.

What makes something kosher?

If a food item meets all the requirements of Jewish dietary law (kashruth), it will be considered kosher.

For instance, if a manufacturer makes sure meat and milk products aren’t mixed together in their facility and that every ingredient they use is kosher, the final product will be considered kosher.

What does it mean when something looks kosher?

Something that looks kosher may have a kosher certification label or may verify in some way that it meets all requirements of the Jewish dietary law.

What does kosher-certified mean?

Kosher-certified means that third-party Jewish certification organizations have thoroughly inspected a product and have made sure it meets all the requirements of the kashruth through supply chain inspection by a rabbinic administrator.

What needs to be kosher certified?

While not all products can receive or need kosher certification, anything consumed by practicing Jewish people must be kosher. This helps them comply with the laws of the Torah.

How do you certify a product kosher?

Companies can ensure their products are kosher-certified by getting a letter of certification from a rabbinic certification agency like the Orthodox Union (OU) or CRC. It will audit the production process to make sure the final product meets Jewish dietary laws.