Regulators Can Still Learn From Kosher Certification Organizations

The kosher certification process perfected by Orthodox Union paved the path for every other food and non-food quality endorsement, such as: organic, gluten free, lactose free, cruelty free, free-rage, etc. and assisted FDA and similar agencies in creating inspection and tracking paths for U.S. quality. 

Nearly half of all food sold in the average American grocery store carries on its label some type of Kosher certification, such as on OU, U, P, or K. This is particularly interesting considering that according to Pew Research, 2.4% of all U.S. adults are Jewish and only about 17% of U.S. Jews reportedly keep kosher in their homes.

Considering that narrow market, how did kosher labeling become so popular? 

Roger Horowitz argues in his book Kosher USA that the lack of food inspection processes in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the ease of certification and consumer (from both kosher and non-kosher households) lead to widespread kosher labeling on everyday food products.

The history of kosher certification is reflective of general issues with food production quality and trust in the United States. Back before cameras, email, inspection ledgers, nutrition labels or food inspection agencies, people had extremely limited access to the history or contents of the food that they were buying.

In 1905, journalist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle which outed the disgusting and unsanitary conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry. The book triggered the creation of the Food and Drug Administration and woke Americans up to quality concerns about their food, particularly processed meats and breads that could be easily adulterated. 

This lack of transparency and knowledge led to a variety of processing disputes, fraud cases and confusion both for kosher and non-kosher Americans in the 19th and 20th century. One New York rabbi actually wrote that the “charlatans, profiteers and outright crooks” in New England made keeping kosher “all but impossible,” and milk contamination and illegal thinning with water was a problem for families of all faiths across the country. 

The Jewish community in New York was acutely aware of the complications from the new era of shipped meat, processed and packaged food long before Sinclair’s best seller. Following many kosher meat scandals and reports of fraud, New York actually became the first state to enact laws criminalizing the misrepresentation of non-kosher food as kosher and then create a state kosher agency to make determinations on kosher businesses: 

“[a] person who with intent to defraud . . . sells or exposes for sale any meat or meat preparation and falsely represents the same to be kosher…is guilty of a misdemeanor.” [N.Y. PENAL LAW § 435(4), Laws of 1915, c. 233.]

Today, there are still some kosher-specific state laws to discourage fraudulent labeling, but many have been rescinded by New York State and the Federal government as there is no longer a need for the government to inspect due to the robust private market.

In 1984 the Federal government stated “[t]he term ‘kosher’ should be used only on food products that meet certain religious dietary requirements.” But in 1997, the FDA changed course and determined that it “ha[d] no role in determining what food is kosher.” 

Similarly, in 2001, a New York Judge ruled that the state's kosher food laws, 'foster excessive entanglements’ between religion and state that violated the First Amendment. This ruling caused the shutdown of any state Kosher inspections and left kosher determinations entirely up to private entities, like the Orthodox Union. Following that ruling, in 2004, New York enacted the Kosher Law Protection Act to update its kosher fraud protection.

Our present day challenges with food quality are less dire than they were in 1905, but we are still facing similar problems. 

What does it mean for food or cosmetics to be “clean” ? 

Considering that all fruits and vegetables have gone through some alteration since their original conception (carrots used to be purple, actually), who is deciding what it means to be totally organic? 

A few years ago, I made the argument that “Influencers are better regulators than the FDA” in relation to the shift in cosmetic ingredients, I pointed out that,

"The wealth of information on cosmetic ingredients' and chemicals, which 10 years ago was only available on obscure blogs or in academic journals, is now neatly packaged into short closed captioned YouTube videos.

This makeup revolution has shown that while regulators play an important role in manufacturing standards and chemical regulation, consumers are perfectly capable of being informed buyers and demanding better from brands.”

Independent certifiers like the Orthodox Union were able to anticipate and solve problems before the government was aware of them. When facing new problems with food certification and quality assurance we should reflect on how trusting those with a vested interest in the quality of products and a commitment to transparency has been beneficial to Americans.

https://farmingabundance.substack.com/p/regulators-can-learn-from-kosher