by Rabbi Chaim Cohn

It is hardly a secret that during the past twenty-five years, the number and variety of kosher-certified products have exploded. In 1977, fewer than 3,000 companies manufactured kosher products; presently there are more than 9,000. In 1977, less than 5,000 products bore kosher certification; that number has multiplied at least tenfold.

Moreover, these figures reflect only consumer products; they do not include items that are manufactured for use as ingredients in an end product. (A classic case in point is flavors. There are tens of thousands of kosher-certified flavors.) Neither do they include products whose kosher status is irrelevant in their own right, but that nonetheless must be reviewed to allow kosher production. For example, if a product for which supervision is not sought is made on machinery that is also used for kosher, that product may require kosher supervision.

Concurrent with the boom in kosher products, four major factors have impacted the food industry over the past quarter-century. First, the industry has undergone a massive consolidation, with larger companies gobbling up smaller ones. As a result, companies that formerly manufactured at one site may now make an identical product at multiple sites. These newly acquired facilities may be around the corner or around the world. Second, food production technology has become progressively more complex. Third, the proliferation of the computer in the workplace presents both challenges and solutions for kosher monitoring and supervision. And fourth, the global economy encourages the purchase of raw materials from all corners of the world. These factors have led to important changes in the way that kosher food production is supervised.

The nature of kosher supervision has also undergone radical change since the inception of formalized national certification approximately eighty years ago. (Abraham Goldstein, an expert in kashrus and a chemist by training, founded the Orthodox Union’s kashrus division in 1924. In 1935, he left to found the Organized Kashrus Laboratories.) Supervision was formerly often a very private event. Occasionally the supervising rabbi would personally bring ingredients needed for the kosher production with him! He would then supervise the production and hand stamp and/or sign the finished product, certifying it as kosher.

Once I visited a company that was in the process of instituting a global monitoring system. I was describing the new system to the head of customer service, a woman who had been with the company for almost thirty years. She interrupted me and directed my attention to an old unused parking lot visible from her window. She said, “It is amazing how far kosher has come. I remember when Rabbi X would come for his special productions. He was elderly, so we would send one of the guys to unload the materials to be used in his production from his trunk.”

This seemingly primitive method was effective for its time, and it continued in some instances as late as the 1970’s. A drawback of this system was that the identical product made in the same facility and identically packaged would be available for purchase in both kosher and not kosher versions. Consumers had to exercise special vigilance to make sure they bought the kosher version. (OK policy today does not permit the production of identical kosher and non-kosher products.)

As demand increased, companies moved away from limited supervision to ongoing certification of products. Companies wanted every version of their product to bear certification. Supervising agencies and rabbis now had to implement systems to enable kosher production without the need for their onsite participation at each run.

Methods were created to ensure that a product made in different plants would have a uniform kosher status — for example, that a pareve item was pareve, regardless of the location of its manufacture. Otherwise, the consumer could be misled.

The kosher agencies instituted procedures for the submission of product formulas and for changes to these formulas. And while in earlier days a handshake might suffice to secure an agreement for supervision, agencies now formulated legal contracts for supervision. The existence of a contract formalizing certification allowed an agency to take the necessary measures to protect the consumer if a company abrogated the agreement.

Supervision agencies have adapted to the global and specialized natures of food manufacture by finding qualified personnel to research the production methodologies of many relatively rare ingredients. Rabbis now travel the world, visiting facilities in China, India, Malaysia, and other distant countries. At the OK, it is not uncommon for a Rabbinic Coordinator to spend two or three weeks out of the month abroad.

The agencies have enlisted significant support staff to handle the kosher explosion. At the OK, along with our network of over 250 field supervisors, we have a large data entry department, ten Rabbinic Coordinators in our main office, regional coordinators in Europe and Israel, technology specialists, and all the accoutrements of a modern, growing business.

The technology of materials has also advanced. New kinds of production equipment have been introduced, including spray dryers, vacuum dryers, fermenters, and steam injectors. Much of this machinery is custom made, so that similar equipment may nonetheless entail a very different kosherization procedure. Therefore, the rabbis who set up kosherization procedures must be experts not only in Jewish law but in modern equipment as well.

Alongside these advances, the materials used in making equipment have changed. Examples of new materials include: plastics designed to withstand temperatures of 900° Fahrenheit; glass that has been specially modified to withstand chemical reactions; and specially coated metals. How are these to be kashered, if at all? Questions of this nature are difficult, and must often be presented to qualified rabbinic authorities who have mastery both of Jewish law and of modern production processes.

Changes in the methodology of producing items have created a need to keep current on production processes, including those that had not changed for centuries. Products that were once treated as inherently kosher may now require supervision, because the equipment used to produce them is today also used to produce non-kosher foods.

An example is canned vegetables. Until recently, some kashrus agencies deemed these acceptable without kosher supervision. Facilities would produce a limited variety of items, and some facilities would simply close when their products were out of season. Modern technology allows the canner to can many different types of products, so a facility may can green beans one season and shrimp the next. Alongside the obvious issue of equipment tainted by not kosher product, the water used in the retort may be recycled, which also generates a kashrus concern. The OK has for over twenty years required supervision of canned vegetables, in deference to these concerns. We are pleased that other major agencies recently stopped accepting canned vegetables that are not reliably supervised.

The most far-reaching change has been the use by kashrus agencies of computers. These enable the agencies to track the volumes of information relevant to kosher production. This includes: lists of raw materials used as ingredients; a general profile of each company; a standardized reporting system for mashgichim to record the results of a visit; and myriad additional details.

Technology has made it easier to monitor production. Systems have been developed to track kosher manufacturing to the minutest detail. What materials are being used? When is production being done? On which equipment?

As in all business, the computer presents the greatest potential asset and source of difficulty for kashrus agencies. It has become possible to develop systems that keep track of what any individual company was producing, where it is producing it, and what materials are used in its production. Computers allow systematic oversight of all ingredients that are used in any company being certified. They enable the issue of standardized ingredient lists and product lists to field mashgichim and to the certified companies. But there is a pitfall: computerization makes it possible to err on an even greater scale, as one incorrect entry potentially could affect the entire system — not to mention what happens when the system goes down!

We have been able at times to utilize a company’s own system to ensure kashrus integrity. In many instances, companies will include kosher designations in their databases. This information can be used to regulate and monitor production. For example, a company may code a raw material as receivable only when bearing a specific, acceptable kosher emblem. This prevents the company from inadvertently receiving and using material that is barred by its kosher supervisor.

Another advantage is the electronic transmission of data. Computer technology enables the transfer of all information associated with a company at one time. This permits real-time communication, greatly reducing the time needed to address problems. It also allows a much faster and more accurate turnaround of requests for certification.

Companies have started using barcode scanning to track the movement of their inventory. By accessing a company’s system, the kashrus agency can monitor where and in what quantity ingredients are used. Some companies also use barcodes to track the equipment used in each production, so that we can monitor the kosher status of items made on lines that are used for both kosher and non-kosher runs. Also, the kashrus of an item inadvertently made on non-kosherized equipment may depend on the time lapse since the non-kosher production. Barcoding may be used to assist us in determining production times.

Computer-coded lockout systems allow a mashgiach to remotely control access to certain pieces of equipment. Data recorders range from flow charts that record the temperature of a piece of equipment at predetermined intervals to monitors that record when and by whom a particular valve was opened.

What advances can we anticipate in the near future? Video technology is still developing. It is possible that one day some hashgachah will be done by way of camcorders. For example, if the only concern in a particular facility is the contents of a bulk shipment (e.g., a tank truck or railcar) that may be not kosher, the camcorder would activate as soon as the storage area is accessed. It would date and record the numbers on the seal of the tanker being unloaded.

Another technology that presents huge potential for simplifying the process of supervision is the handheld computer. This device can link to a main database and allow the onsite mashgiach to access up-to-date information about the company, including its ingredient and product lists. The mashgiach can also electronically file his report from the facility.

The changes in kosher supervision during the past three decades have been remarkable, and we anticipate further major changes in the years to come. All this makes it an exciting time in kosher supervision. But this is also a demanding time, a time when we must be ever more alert to kashrus issues. At the OK, we will continue to fulfill our mission of exercising kashrus vigilance on behalf of the kosher consumer.

Rabbi Chaim Cohn, an expert in the monitoring of complex flavor houses, is a Rabbinic Coordinator at the OK Labs.