Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians, people with allergies and other consumer groups may soon be eating more kosher foods than ever, if a Cornell food researcher has his way.
That's because existing kosher certification might be modified to better meet the needs of these and other groups, and in the process could expand the market for kosher foods, Joe M. Regenstein, professor of food science at Cornell and the head of the Cornell Kosher Food Initiative, reported at the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting in Atlanta June 23.
"Many kosher supervision agencies could consider modifying their certification process to meet the needs of Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians, people with allergies or lactose intolerance, Mormons, Methodists, Baptists, Buddhists and Hindus without violating any Jewish dietary laws," he said.
Regenstein proposed a new kosher symbol, a "Hook R," to symbolize the hooking together of the needs of kosher consumers with the dietary laws of other religions. This would complement the over 300 kosher symbols currently in use.
Direct sales of kosher food products are a $3 billion industry with more than $33 billion dollars worth of products having kosher symbols on them, Regenstein said. About 7,600 companies produce kosher foods in this country, and the growth rate is more than 10 percent a year, with 2,000 new products certified as kosher annually.
A recent Cornell survey of an upstate New York supermarket conducted by students in Regenstein's class on kosher and Halal (Muslim certification) food regulations confirmed that up to 40 percent of grocery items are kosher. Two-thirds of the U.S. kosher market of about a million consumers are non-Jewish.
"With the cooperation of the food industry and the kosher supervision industry, it may be possible to make specific changes in the certifying system now used to make the kosher markings even more useful in the marketplace to more people," Regenstein said. To be kosher, a rabbi or member of his staff attests that the food meets all the numerous rules required for kosher production. These rules include no forbidden flesh foods (e.g., pork, shellfish, eels, sharks), only meat and poultry from animals that have been slaughtered according to ritual requirements and no dairy in products marked "pareve." Pareve means that a food has been prepared without meat or dairy (except trace amounts).
Regenstein offered the services of the Cornell Kosher Food Initiative -- a program that provides services to the food industry, kosher supervision agencies and kosher and other consumers -- to coordinate the cross-community needs and activities related to the expanded Hook R certification of kosher food. The new kosher symbol would, among other points, indicate:
Regenstein spoke at a special forum, "The Flavor Industry and Religious Foods," that he helped organize as part of a new Religious and Ethnic Foods Division at the IFT meeting. In addition to teaching a course on kosher and Halal food regulations at Cornell, Regenstein offers his course electronically. For those interested, contact Regenstein at jmr9@cornell.edu or by phone at 255-2109.
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