By I. C. K.
Thank G‑d, it's getting much easier to obtain Kosher food in so many different places. We can walk into almost any store or supermarket in the country, take a box or bottle off the shelf, and find the authorized symbol that certifies it as Kosher.
We are obviously looking for a bonafide, registered Kashruth symbol by a reliable supervising agency that will assure us that the product is indeed kosher for us to enjoy without question or hesitation.
Sometimes, the OK symbol is prominently displayed, so you can see it right away. But the OK symbol often appears in small fine print, so you may have to squint a bit to see it. You may have to look up, down and around, searching through the packaging design camouflage to find where that Kosher Symbol is hiding.
But generally, the familiar and friendly OK doesn't play hard to get. It jumps right up at you, and all but says: "I'm okay! Take me home with you!"
There is, however, much more to Kosher identification than meets the eye.
While the Kosher consumer is getting it all handed on a platter, the supervising agency must do a lot of detective wor k behind the scenes. This involves synchronized teamwork between the office desk back at OK headquarters, chemists at the Laboratory and Kosher inspectors out in the field.
The OK symbol on a food package is the result of many hours, days or even weeks of difficult research and diligent investigation to ascertain whether a product meets all the standards and is truly Kosher.
Before the OK Laboratories will even consider allowing their name to be placed on a product, it must first undergo a thorough and rigorous examination analyzing every step of the complicated processes and equipment involved in its production.
OK's Kosher detectives leave no lid unturned and no door unopened in pursuing the facts and matching lists and figures. Indeed, OK has the greatest success rate of catching up with those non-Kosher contaminants wherever they may be hiding.
We owe our modern Kosher conveniences to the professionals at OK's main office, branches and laboratories, who thoroughly scrutinize each product before it is labeled as Kosher. OK's highly computerized network retains tons of critical data, along with quick retrieval of information on the Kosher status of any product, anywhere in the world.
OK Personnel undergo intensive training sessions, conferences and periodic refresher upgrades to keep abreast of the latest developments.
Kosher integrity is no longer just a local matter within a Jewish neighborhood or community. Our global economy and product interdependence now has ingredients being imported from all around the world.
Even a small food producer may be using 1,000 to 4,000 different ingredients, and flavor companies today are creating over 100 flavors a day!
OK laboratories' stringent rules require that each and every ingredient must be accompanied by a letter from a reliable supervising rabbi certifying that it is Kosher. These must be traced all the way back to their original sources, which may be all the way out somewhere in Southeast Asia .
OK's dedicated detectives follow their leads all the way to the ends of the earth. In fact, one OK supervisor has logged almost two million miles in his Kosher pursuits!
OK specialists are highly trained to stay ahead of the constant changes and rapid advances in food technology and distribution. And its not just a matter of the ingredients being Kosher; the processing and equipment must also be checked out.
In large plants, industrial steam jackets wrapped around tanks and vats circulate heat throughout many sections. Care must be taken that they don't transfer from non-Kosher production lines. OK experts have the industrial expertise to trace the flow of product through the labrynith of pipes and tangle of hoses in major food manufacturing plants.
Now that we know all this, let's not get distracted by that misleading plain regular "k" letter that really means nothing, other than that the company hopes you will trust they are kosher without any rabbinic supervision. Why would they do that? I haven't a clue!
