preview

Kosher Diet History

Good Essays

The Jewish religion dates back to 1800 B.C.E. Today there are 13,580,000 followers, 81% of them living in either the United States or Israel (Pergola). The Tanakh, the Jewish bible, has a huge influence over the followers of Judaism. It isis divided into three sections: the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim; each section providing different guidelines for Jews in their everyday life. Jews follow a Kosher diet, where its roots can be found in The Mitzvah, a large section of dietary laws and food traditions in the Torah. Here, we find that an animal is “pure” for consumption if it is in their natural state of land, air or water; “they must have divided feet, cloven, hooves, and chew their cud” (Sonnenfeld). Eating creatures of different states together …show more content…

Kosher food has become a multibillion dollar industry in United States of over 12 million kosher consumers in the United States and more than 40% of the United State’s packaged food and beverages being labeled as kosher (Mollaei). The Kosher diet is changing the business in food production, where the religious diet has been used to target different groups of individuals for an increase in profit for the United States economy. The United States economy has targeted Kosher business owners, individuals concerned about healthy diets, and the general public by deceiving them with labels to increase to sales. The United States economy has lost focus of the religious traditions of the Kosher diet, in exchange for accumulating …show more content…

Inspectors are required to check food sanitation, the separation of dairy from meat products, and for supermarkets, packaged products from kosherly approved suppliers (Rabinovitch). While it is important for Kosher run businesses in the United States to obtain certified approval from officials, a monopolized environment has been created where the United States economy focuses on the profits accumulated from Kosher certifications over the costs that Kosher families have to consider despite their religious reliance on these certifications. One rabbi inspector should be enough to guarantee the quality of Kosher foods however, “dozens of private groups have popped up offering competing, extra-special-kosher certificates. This has a created a situation where in some Kosher businesses, 17 inspectors every day descend upon a single food court all at the expense of the business owners” (Rabinovitch). Fees can vary for Kosher inspections, “where the average annual cost is about $1,000

Get Access