Kosher supervision today is truly an alphabet soup; there are so many kosher symbols that the consumer understandably has a difficult time distinguishing among them. With so many kashrus agencies in existence, what makes the OK unique?

   With Pesach around the corner, I am reminded of my father's yahrzeit, which occurs on 5 Nissan. It is 11 years since the passing of Rabbi Berel Levy, of blessed memory, a genuine pioneer in kashrus. My father spearheaded the expansion of the OK, laying the groundwork for the organization as it exists today and establishing the guidelines by which we operate.

   The source of the OK's uniqueness is my father's modus operandi. He believed that one could and should administer a large kashrus organization from the top – that is, with centralized standards and centralized decision-making.

   Of necessity, a kosher supervision agency has rabbinic coordinators staffing its home office, and on-site rabbis representing areas around the world to provide ongoing inspection of the certified plants.

   There are two ways to divide responsibility between the home office and field rabbis. The first way is to have authority rest not in the home office, but with the local rabbis supervising each facility. When a company requests certification, the agency dispatches a rabbi who lives in the company's vicinity to inspect the facility and subsequently to monitor it. No one in the central office ever actually inspects the plant. The tendency is to employ this method as the agency gets larger.

   The OK does not subscribe to this approach. Rather, we invest ultimate responsibility in our home office, so that the field mashgichim (supervisors) operate as our extension, not as quasi-independent entities.

   The practical application of this approach is manifold. First, OK policy requires that before initial certification is granted, a Rabbinic Coordinator from our headquarters visits the facility. (In exceptional cases, we allow certain field mashgichim who have acquired the requisite expertise to make the initial inspection.)

We schedule, at minimum, an annual visit to each OK-certified facility by one of our home office rabbis. Here we follow in my father's footsteps; he insisted on personally inspecting each supervised facility on an ongoing basis.

   It was my father who blazed the path for this sort of supervision. He insisted on visiting every factory personally before granting certification. It made no difference how distant the facility was, even on the other side of the world. Although he engaged qualified rabbis around the world to monitor the plants after supervision was in place, he believed that the buck stopped with him. If the OK planned to grant a hechsher, he needed to be intimately familiar with the facility he would be certifying.

   Second, we schedule, at minimum, an annual visit to each OK-certified facility by one of our home office rabbis. (The frequency of these inspections depends on the type of plant being certified.) Here again we follow in my father's footsteps; he insisted on personally inspecting each supervised facility on an ongoing basis. Over the years the OK has grown by leaps and bounds. There is a tendency for companies to become lax as they grow, but the OK has not diluted its standards one iota.

   Third, because we expect each of the Rabbinic Coordinators to be familiar with the entire OK operation, they rotate their visits; instead of having one rabbi responsible for a particular facility, each rabbi eventually acquires hands-on knowledge of every plant we certify in the United States.

   Why do we insist on this strict standard? What is wrong with having the local mashgichim take responsibility for the facilities they monitor?

   Although the decentralized approach is easier to employ, it carries several inherent drawbacks. For one thing, one can never be certain whose standards are being applied at each plant. Are they the standards set by the national agency, or by the on-site mashgiach? When you, the consumer, see an agency's emblem on a product, do you have a guarantee that a consistent standard is being followed? The unfortunate fact is that you do not have such a guarantee if local mashgichim are the sole monitors. It is quite likely, in fact, that the same kosher symbol represents different standards for different products.

   Moreover, the kashrus universe is organic, with developments occurring every day. We process an enormous amount of information at the OK central office. Even the best field mashgiach does not possess the wealth of general data accessible to the home office Rabbinic Coordinators. There are wonderfully talented field mashgichim at the service of the kashrus agencies. These are men who are knowledgeable in all the details of kashrus and who know their particular facilities well. However, their knowledge does not extend to developments in the general world of kashrus. The task of the home office rabbis is to have this information at hand; it is they who gauge whether it has application for specific plants.

   If a kashrus agency has rabbis who are aware of these developments but those rabbis do not personally visit plants, that knowledge does not come into practical use.

   Kashrus is multifaceted, and encompasses knowledge of a broad range of subjects. We are proud that each of our staff Rabbinic Coordinators is an expert in kashrus, and that their combined experience gives us the largest concentration of kashrus experts in one office in the world. These rabbanim have arrived at their level of proficiency not by sitting behind a desk, but by working their way up through the ranks. (See sidebar.)

   The firsthand knowledge that we have at our central office takes the pressure off our mashgichim. They know that when a difficulty arises, the OK is prepared, because someone in the home office has recently observed their plant. Also, after observing a plant, our home office rabbanim critique the local mashgiach and bring him up to date on manufacturing innovations that impact the kashrus of his company. Food production is in a constant state of flux; we believe that we must keep our field mashgichim in the information loop.

   The companies we certify are also happy with this division of responsibility, for many reasons. If they need assistance in solving kashrus-related issues, a call to our office connects them not with a generic voice, but with someone whom they have met face to face and who is familiar with their facility. When they need technical assistance, we are often able to help them by capitalizing on our years of field experience.

   Recently a company wanted to produce a Kosher for Passover item in a chocolate factory. Because of our home office visits, we knew that the facility was covered in flour-containing powder, making it impossible to kasher. The field mashgiach for the Passover run would not have been the same man as the year-round field mashgiach, and might not otherwise have known that the plant uses flour.

   The companies also appreciate that their interaction with a rabbi who knows their plant firsthand means they receive consistent directives. This consistency is harder to achieve when the plant is an abstraction to the home office of the kashrus agency.

   Among my father's outstanding traits was his thoroughness. In order to certify a facility properly, one must know the details concerning the machinery, processing, and ingredients to the greatest degree possible. We still marvel at the detail of the reports that my father wrote years ago.

   The OK policy for setting up and maintaining certification of companies remains very detail-oriented. We insist on full disclosure of all the ingredients used in the facility, both kosher and non-kosher, so that the mashgiach is fully cognizant of the plant's entire operation. We must also have complete knowledge of the machinery and production methods used in a plant.

We are gratified that our clients know they can count on the OK to hold all proprietary information in the strictest confidence.

   When a company requests certification for a product, it must submit to the OK a complete list of all ingredients used in its facilities. Among the ingredients that comprise the product, some may already be kosher; the company submits to us the kosher certificates for these ingredients. We review these certificates and determine whether they stem from kashrus agencies that meet OK standards.

   We also evaluate the ingredients that are not currently under kosher supervision and determine which items require a hechsher.

   Without the kosher certificates there would be no kosher food industry. Someone in the food trade looks for a kosher certificate on an ingredient in the same way that a consumer looks for a hechsher on the finished product; the kosher certificate tells an on-site mashgiach the current information about an ingredient.

   We have to date accumulated almost 80,000 ingredients in our database. Obviously, keeping an updated ingredient list is an enormous undertaking; still, we take all steps needed to insure accuracy. At the same time, we spare no effort to keep company ingredient lists confidential. We are gratified that our clients know they can count on the OK to hold all proprietary information in the strictest confidence.

   The kosher certificates issued by the kashrus agencies generally expire yearly, at which time they are subject to renewal. There are numerous reasons why ingredients are subject to an annual review. For example, the entire company may lose its kosher supervision; items may no longer be approved; or products can be re-formulated from pareve to dairy.

   Therefore, it is critical that when a company asks its certifying agency to renew supervision for a product, the kashrus agency requests updated current kosher certificates for the ingredients contained in the product. To rely on expired certificates is to create room for error.

   This was demonstrated recently when we received a call from a mashgiach who works for another major kashrus agency. The mashgiach was concerned about the current status of an OK-certified ingredient which was to be included in a product supervised by his agency. He had in his possession an expired OK certification letter stating that the ingredient was kosher without an OK stamp on the packaging. Although his agency had renewed the product's certification annually, it had not asked the product manufacturer for updated kosher letters for the ingredients in the product that are under the supervision of other agencies such as the OK.

   We regretfully informed the diligent mashgiach that the ingredient now required an OK stamp. This change had occurred two years ago, because the manufacturer was now making a similar item that is not kosher. The same ingredient that was kosher years earlier without an OK stamp was today kosher only with the stamp; the lack of the stamp meant that the ingredient being used by the company was the not kosher version.

   It is evident that issuing an annual kosher letter is not enough. An agency must review the annual kosher letter of every ingredient contained in a product under its supervision. And yet, until now we have been the only major kashrus agency that updates its ingredient list on an ongoing basis. (As we went to press, we were gratified to learn that at the behest of the OK, another leading agency has agreed to begin to implement a similar ingredient update procedure.)

   We accomplish this by requiring a company to submit an acceptable kosher certificate for any new ingredient it wishes to use before it purchases the ingredient. For example, say Hunt-Wesson wishes to use an ingredient certified by the Beth Din Tzeddek of Jerusalem. Hunt must forward to us the Beth Din's kosher certificate for that ingredient.

   In addition, when an OK-approved company's kosher certification is up for renewal, we ascertain that all the kosher ingredients used by the company have a current kosher certificate. This constant flow of information is expedited with our recently installed state of the art computer system, a system unique to the OK.

   Once a current kosher certificate is forwarded to us, the file of each company using the ingredient is updated to reflect this new information. Say that Post Cereals sends us an updated kosher certificate for one of its ingredients. If Keebler uses the same ingredient, Keebler will not have to send an updated letter for this item, since our computer program will automatically have updated Keebler's file. This allows us to maintain the highest standards while reducing the burden of paperwork on the companies we certify.

   After we do the research, we supply the on-site mashgiach with specific instructions and the updated ingredient list. Armed with this information, he can monitor the company properly.

   If an ingredient proves problematic, we can trace it with just a few keystrokes. At one time it was a nightmare to track who was using a problem ingredient. Today this is accomplished with ease. At a later date we will, G-d willing, describe at length our revolutionary computer program.

   It is important to stress that keeping an updated ingredient list was done by the OK before we had the computer system. This is crucial to kashrus control, and has always been standard practice at the OK. The benefit of the computer system is that we now utilize automation to accomplish what we previously did manually.

   In Pirkei Avos, Ethics of the Fathers, our Sages note the importance of having a shem tov, a good name. A shem tov makes an impact that outlives a man. As I mark my father's yahrzeit, I thank G-d that we have stayed true to his standards and principles, and that in so doing his monumental work has changed the world of kashrus.

   Among the righteous deeds observed by the Jews in Egypt was that they kept their unique diet. The final redemption is compared to our redemption from Egypt; may we merit the Messiah's imminent coming by our keeping of the kashrus laws.

Rabbinic Coordinators Each of the OK's Rabbinic Coordinators is an expert in matters that cover the broad spectrum of kashrus. In addition, each rabbi is a specialist in certain areas.
	Rabbi Leizer Teitelbaum, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator, specializes in chemicals, flavors, catering, enzymes and vitamins. He has intimate knowledge of how equipment works and how it interfaces with kosher requirements. He is also a shochet (ritual slaughterer).
Rabbi Dovid A. Steigman is expert in resolving complicated issues that arise in kosher certification. He was a shochet for many years. He speaks Spanish fluently, and has responsibility for much of the OK's South America hechsherim.
Rabbi Mendel Reitzes services the entire New York, New Jersey, Connecticut. Among his specialties are spray-drying facilities.
	Rabbi Levi Y. Garelik handles most incoming questions from field mashgichim. He performs the thorough company reviews that the OK does periodically. He also coordinated the design of the new OK computer system from the rabbinic point of view.
Rabbi Yitzchak Gornish is an expert in the supervision of restaurants and caterers, and is responsible for those departments at the OK.
	Rabbi Chaim Fogelman has worked extensively in field hashgachah. He processes new requests for supervision, explaining the kashrus laws to the applying companies and guiding them through the certification process.
Rabbi Yitzchok Ort specializes in all matters related to the supervision of dairy products, such as pasteurizers, homogenizers and starter cultures.