<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

The following information is about using kosher information to determine
whether a food product has a dairy ingredient. I have recently talked
with several people that are involved with kosher certifying and you
should be aware of the following:

If an item is labeled kosher--pareve (ie NO dairy or meat in the
product) you must be aware that this is not a 100% guarantee that there
is no dairy. If you have lactose intolerance this is safe to rely on for
items to be df. HOWEVER if you have a SEVERE dairy allergy than I was
advised that probably NO prepared food is safe.

1. The major issue that is a problem is cross contamination--apparently
there has been at least one person having an allergic reaction to dairy
based on the fact that some of the milk powder floated across the plant
and a minute amount of it entered the pareve product.

2. Under current US law the kosher organizations cannot have the
manufacturer's recall items based on the fact that the kosher labeling
is incorrect (during the current discussion on food allergies and food
labeling at least one kosher organization is bringing this issue up to
the FDA, ideally they would like to have this be a way of recalling
items that are labeled kosher-pareve but do in fact contain dairy. This
is not because it is a kosher concern but it is due to the fact that
people are relying on the pareve designation to determine what foods are
df.).

3. Under Jewish kosher law an item could ACCIDENTALLY have a small
amount of dairy (1 in 60 parts maximum) and still be considered pareve,
however this is only acceptable under Jewish kosher law if it was not
deliberate and most kosher organizations in the United States seem to be
trying to avoid using this leniency in the products they supervise.

4. At least one source of GF mixes that is kosher is labeled as dairy,
however the producer has told me several times that yes it is labeled
dairy however the item does not contain dairy and is DF. This is
normally done when a product is produced on equipment that also produces
a dairy product and is not adequately cleaned ACCORDING TO JEWISH LAW
prior to producing the product that does not contain a dairy ingredient.

Helen indicated in her previous message that: >the big plus in products
that are marked Kosher is that the ingredients list is much more
detailed and can be trusted< The rules of labeling of ingredients is
actually based on the same law all other foods use, ie kosher food is no
more accurate than nonkosher food. What is more reliable is the fact
that it is less likely to contain items like dairy if it is labeled
pareve; for items that have a high incidents of bugs it will be double
checked to ensure that the level is basically none (such as the bags of
salad we can buy in the store; if they have bugs they do not kosher
certify that batch), will not contain certain items such as
pork/ingredients derived from bugs/etc; the producer will be using a
smaller list of sources for the items they use since the ingredients
must be checked to ensure they are also kosher (and some basic
ingredients are always kosher for passover because it is cheaper for the
manufacturer, an example is fish gelatin which is only made kosher once
or twice a year. They have to thoroughly clean the plant plus provide
fairly strict supervision because they make pork gelatin the rest of the
year.)

However, being kosher for passover IS a guarantee of 100% no wheat,
oats, barley, spelt and rye in those products that do not contain
matza/matza meal derived ingredients--which are always in the ingredient
list when they are in the products. This is partly due to the fact that
kosher for passover inspection/supervision requirements are much more
stringent than kosher during the year. Under kosher law there is no
leniency about the addition of these grains in FOOD. Medicine and
nonfood items do have leniency's, however many people try to be strict
in those also which is why you have lists of medicine and nonfood
products that also don't contain wheat, oats, barley, spelt, and rye.
The big difference is that this is usually done based on information
from the manufacturer rather than careful inspection of the ingredients
(back to the original source, through it being transported, and while
the final product is produced/packaged).