When you walk into a grocery store, you may notice many food items labeled as kosher. Yet while you may assume kosher products on a shelf are the only things related to the kosher process, the fact is kosher certification involves many manufacturing details you never considered. Since the kosher food market is estimated to be worth almost $25 billion worldwide, getting various manufacturing steps correct along the way in terms of transportation, material storage, supervision, and more is critical. As a business owner who wants a better idea of what is involved in gaining kosher certification, here are some important details about kosher manufacturing.
Transportation of Goods
Generally, kosher transportation is used for products meant for immediate consumption, such as kosher dairy products like milk and cheese. However, strict guidelines also apply to ingredients and chemicals used to manufacture various products, such as gelatin, corn syrup, and even steel drums used as containers for ingredients and chemicals. By having transportation that has kosher certification, it means whatever foods, chemicals, or other ingredients are transported are deemed to be safe for use or consumption. For many business owners, this means having tankers and other types of transportation dedicated only to kosher food transport.
Steam from Boilers in Production
Since most boiler systems are made so that they recycle water back to the boiler, this can be challenging in a kosher manufacturing environment. Due to steam taking on the characteristics of whatever material it has heated, any steam used in non-kosher manufacturing processes cannot be used for kosher manufacturing.
Material Storage
While it’s ideal for kosher and non-kosher products to be stored separately, that is not always practical. Therefore, strict quality control measures must be in place within a kosher manufacturing environment. Thus, if a processing plant does both kosher and non-kosher products, walls or other barriers must be in place to prevent cross-contamination.
Equipment and Transference
In an industrial kosher environment, direct contact equipment must meet kosher requirements. This will involve various cleaning and cross-contamination controls, all of which must apply to the kosher principles of absorption and transference. In most situations where heat is used for processing, dedicated equipment including utensils are preferred.
Lubricants
Like other ingredients and chemicals used in the kosher manufacturing process, any food-grade lubricants used on machines or within your processing plant must also meet kosher guidelines. This includes being stored separately from non-kosher lubricants, containing ingredients that meet kosher requirements, and being carefully used only in situations that will not result in any cross-contamination occurring.
Kosher Supervision
Finally, most all kosher-related processes within a manufacturing environment are under the direct supervision of a rabbi. For example, when utensils or other equipment are used for heating raw materials during the manufacturing process, your facility will need to have this supervised by a rabbi. If you have a kosher-certified facility, this is done by the rabbi who is in charge of kosher certification. Whether you have a manufacturing or processing facility, transportation company, or other related business, kosher certification is a necessity to help your business continue to expand and gain new customers. Since gaining this highly-specialized certification involves numerous steps and details, you likely have many questions about what’s involved. If so, contact Industrial Kosher to learn more about how to gain kosher certification for your business.