Delicious Snack Bars That Are Certified Kosher

Taste of Nature bars are an appetizing part of a kosher diet. The Taste of Nature plant, and any new machinery that comes into the building, are Kosher certified. To maintain this certification, rigorous cleaning procedures are performed after every run for every machine. Amongst other things, maintaining the certification includes unannounced visits by a Rabbi for random checks, to make sure our bars follow the kosher rules.

The word kosher means proper or acceptable, and it has informally entered the English language with that meaning. But kosher laws have their origin in the Bible, and are detailed in the Talmud and the other codes of Jewish traditions. They have been applied throughout the centuries to ever–changing situations, and these rulings, both ancient and modern, govern OU (Orthodox Union) Kosher certification.

You may already be familiar with some of the more well–known requirements, but you may be surprised at the extent of the regulations.

The bible lists the basic categories of food items that are not kosher. These include certain animals, fowl and fish (such as pork and rabbit, eagle and owl, catfish and sturgeon), and any shellfish, insect or reptile. In addition, kosher species of meat and fowl must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner, and meat and dairy products may not be manufactured or consumed together.

Why do so many foods require kosher supervision?

For example, shouldn’t cereals and potato chips be inherently kosher since they are not made from meat, fowl, fish or insects? The answer is that all units and subunits in a food item must be kosher as well. So a cereal may be non–kosher because it has raisins which are coated with a non–Kosher, animal–based glycerine. Potato chips can be non–kosher if the vegetable oil used in the fryer has been pasteurized and deodorized on equipment used for tallow production. In fact, equipment used for hot production of non–kosher products may not be used for kosher production without kosherization (a hot purging procedure).

For more information on Orthodox Union, please visit ou.org.