Star-K Kosher Certification

STAR-K’s Sixth Annual Kashrus Training Seminar Draws Participants from Far & Near by Margie Pensak

They came from L.A. and Irvine, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and White Oak, Brooklyn and Great Neck, as well as from Baltimore, Brighton, Chicago, Lakewood, Providence, and as far away as Madison, Wisconsin.

The 26 participants of STAR-K’s sixth annual Kashrus Training Seminar, included rabbonim, kollel fellows, and others serving in klei kodesh who have studied Yorah Deah. The intensive seminar featured lectures by Star-K’s rabbinic staff members, including its Rabbinic Administrator, HaRav Moshe Heinemann, and its President, Dr. Avrom Pollak.

HaRav Heinemann spoke of the intricacies of bishul akum, in a shiur entitled, “Bishul Akum and Ne’emanus of an Akum”. Dr. Pollak discussed practical guidelines for setting up a local vaad hakashrus and gave advice for decisions one faces in doing so, in his lecture, “A Certifying Agency’s Administrative Issues”.

In addition to explaining the various segments of the kashrus industry, sessions covered everything from consumer shaylos to the halachic issues concerning appliances. HaRav Mordechai Frankel, director of STAR-K’s Institute of Halachah, discussed the shaila, “Kosher Accountability: Who Does Teshuva When a Product is Mislabeled?”

Star-K produced audio-visual presentations about chicken shechita/shaylos, nikur, and insect recognition, a hands-on practicum for vegetable checking, and field trips to a slaughterhouse, juice manufacturing plant, restaurant, bakery, and the kosher kitchen of the Hyatt Regency, rounded out the seminar experience.

As Rabbi Zvi Goldberg, Star-K Kashrus Administrator, and coordinator of the seminar says, the success of this year’s program was best summed up in a letter he received by a participant from Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore:

Dear Rabbi Goldberg and Star-K,

Having just completed your Kashrus Training Program, I wanted to offer you my sincere thank you. The program was most informative and I gained immeasurably from it. You have shed new light and appreciation on the tremendous effort put in to ensure that the public will have authentic Kosher food. I will never look at a Kosher product the same way! You have inspired me and whet my appetite to study the many topics and Halachos further.

I was so impressed by your staff. They were knowledgeable, friendly and most eager to share their time and advice with us. I would highly recommend this program for anyone who wishes to get a true and clear “taste” of Kashrus.

Your excitement and enthusiasm in what you do was very refreshing for me to behold. You staff cares so much and we all saw how dedicated each person is in ensuring that their department is being run to its best.

I would like to commend you on one thing specifically that I noticed. This lesson was more powerful to me than all of the classes and field trips combined. I heard from your lecturers about the importance of communication and cooperation between the staff and even between the different Kashrus agencies. I learned from you the importance of being courteous, respectful and professional. I saw that this outlook which you preached was so beautifully practiced by you as well! I noticed how well you all interacted together. The amount of love and respect between every staff member was palpable. I saw that your organization is one of dedicated men and women involved in the communal needs, with the most noble of intentions.

You taught us about guarding and protecting every company’s proprietary secrets. I must admit that I figured out your own secret to success! The most impressive part is that you are happy to share this information with everyone! Your secret to success is that you all work together and have an atmosphere of respect and cooperation.

During each class given, I noticed how the other lecturers attended to hear their colleagues speak! They listened with an interest and thirst. This is a most impressive fact. The Star-K has no ego, only one unified goal, to serve and educate the public.

May Hashem bless each one of you and your families with only health and success. May your programs continue to expand and to change the face of Kashrus throughout the world.

I am humbled and inspired from what you have taught me and I truly hope to keep in touch with you, in order that I will be able to continue to learn from your expertise and most practical advice.

With much gratitude,

Yosef Tropper.

(Margie Pensak Star K / YWN Desk)

STAR-K CERTIFICATION Announces Newly Formed Alliance with Mexico’s KMD Kosher Agency by Margie Pensak

The present-day Mexican Jewish community boasts a population of over 40,000. In Mexico City, alone, where the majority of Mexican Jews live, there are 23 synagogues and more than a dozen Jewish schools, where over 90% of its Jewish youth receive their education. To serve this rapidly growing Torah community, there are 19 kosher restaurants, 19 kosher butcher shops, 15 kosher bakeries, and 13 kosher grocery stores.

Jews are no strangers to Mexico. Although the Jewish presence in Mexico dates back to the Spanish Conquest, it was not until the final years of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century that a mass immigration of Jews from Syria, Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe, fleeing from persecution and poverty, gave way to the initial stages of a modern Jewish Mexican community.

Today, the Maguen David Community, formed by descendents of the Jewish immigrants from Aleppo, Syria, provides welfare, religious and educational services to its associates. Among its institutions, KMD is responsible for providing kashrus services.

To facilitate the ever-growing kashrus demands in Mexico, a newly formed alliance between STAR-K CERTIFICATION and the KMD was recently announced by STAR-K President, Dr. Avrom Pollak. “STAR-K has a history of sharing its expertise in kashrus with other communities,” explains Dr. Pollak.

“We look forward to this new partnership which promises to have a positive affect on the volume of kosher meat and other food products not only in both the United States and Mexico, but throughout the world. It will be mutually beneficial for both organizations and communities, as well as the greater kosher community, especially during these challenging economic times.”

“KMD is honored to announce this alliance, since it serves as an important launching pad for Mexican kashrus”, said Salomon Dichi, treasurer of the Maguen David in Mexico “It means being able to provide foreign markets with Mexican-made products, showing both KMD and Star-K certifications. I would like to stress that these two companies have very similar certification standards. We hope that this alliance will be a big success in Mexico and the United States”.

STAR-K Certification Announces New Joint Kosher and Organic Auditing Program with QAI

BALTIMORE, Md. and SAN DIEGO, Calif. ---STAR-K Certification, Inc., today announced a new joint kosher and organic auditing program with Quality Assurance International (QAI), effective January 1, 2009.

The joint auditing program offers several advantages to the growing numbers of companies worldwide that opt for both organic and kosher certification. These include: streamlining the auditing process and reducing overall certification costs. To accomplish these goals, a number of STAR-K kosher inspectors are now trained organic inspectors, allowing us to complete both audits concurrently.

“The new alliance between STAR-K and QAI highlights our shared commitment to help companies provide high-quality kosher certified organic products, in a more efficient and cost-effective manner,” said STAR-K President Dr. Avrom Pollak. “Like STAR-K, QAI is dedicated to helping consumers know that they are getting real value from certified products. Having realized that many companies have both certifications, we feel that the bundling of our certification efforts will add further efficiency and value on behalf of consumers throughout the world.”

The rapidly, rising global demand for products bearing a trusted, recognizable kosher logo has been similar to the growth in demand for products labeled certified organic. These two intersecting trends have given rise to a flourishing new specialty food category—kosher organic. These products meet both the strict requirements of Jewish dietary laws and the USDA National Organic Program specifications.

Kosher organic product sales have been growing annually; increasing numbers of kosher consumers are requesting organic foods, and more kosher manufacturers are producing organic foods. There has been a major impact on sales of these doubly certified products, and Mintel research organization’s data indicates that, in 2008, both “kosher” and “organic” were amongst the top ten claims for new products. [Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), Mintel International, 2008.]

“We are thrilled to announce this new alliance with STAR-K,” said Kristen Holt, QAI President. “By combining our respective expertise, together QAI and STAR-K will offer two certifications with one audit, providing clients both cost and time savings, while continuing to provide the highest levels of service our clients have come to expect.”

For more information on Star-K Kosher Certification and QAI Organic Certification, or to learn more about a combined organic and kosher audit, please contact Steve Sichel at or 410-484-4110, ext. 224.

STAR-K Kosher Certification, a not-for-profit agency, is one of the most trusted kosher certification organizations in the world. With offices throughout the U.S., China, Australia, and Israel, STAR-K certifies food products and establishments, as well as industrial food chemicals, in well over 1,500 locations worldwide. The agency is internationally renowned for its extensive research on the complexities of food science and modern technology, as they apply to the laws of kosher, putting it on the cutting edge of the ever-growing multi-billion dollar kosher food industry. It is one of the foremost experts in the field of kosher pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, and medications. For more information about STAR-K, call (410) 484-4110, or visit www.star-k.org.

Quality Assurance International (QAI, Inc.), founded in 1989, is the organic industry leader in certification services with operations in the U.S., Canada, Japan and the European Union. Clients include agricultural producers, food processing facilities, integrated manufacturing operations, contract packing operations, traders, distributors, and retailers. QAI’s programs verify organic compliance at every link of the product handling chain, thus assuring consumers that product integrity is preserved in the marketplace. QAI is a pioneer in the organic industry and remains dedicated to fostering sustainable agriculture and promoting a healthy planet. For more information, visit www.qai-inc.com.