Kosher Food: Everything You Need to Know

Most kosher guidelines forbid pairing meat and dairy together and allow you to eat the meat of certain animals. Kosher guidelines also provide direction on preparation.

Kosher is a term used to describe food that complies with the strict dietary standards of traditional Jewish law. For many Jews, keeping kosher is about more than just health or food safety. It is about reverence and adherence to religious tradition. That said, not all Jewish communities adhere to strict kosher guidelines. Some individuals may choose to follow only certain rules — or none at all.

This article explores what kosher food means, outlines the main dietary guidelines, and gives the requirements that foods must meet to be considered kosher.

What does ‘kosher’ mean?

The English word kosher is derived from the Hebrew root “kashér,” which means “to be pure, proper, or suitable for consumption”. The laws that provide the foundation for a kosher dietary pattern are collectively referred to as “kashrut” and are found within the Torah, the Jewish book of sacred texts. Instructions for practical application of these laws are passed down through oral tradition.

Kosher dietary laws are comprehensive and provide a rigid framework of rules that not only outline which foods are allowed or forbidden but also mandate how permitted foods must be produced, processed, and prepared prior to consumption.

Certain food combinations are strictly forbidden

Some of the main kosher dietary guidelines ban certain food pairings — particularly the pairing of meat and dairy.

There are three main kosher food categories:

1. Meat (fleishig): mammals or fowl, as well as products derived from them, including bones and broth

2. Dairy (milchig): milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt

3. Pareve: any food that is not meat or dairy, including fish, eggs, and plant-based foods

According to kosher requirement, any food categorized as meat may never be served or eaten at the same meal as a dairy product. Furthermore, all utensils and equipment used to process and clean meat and dairy must be kept separate — even down to the sinks in which they’re washed.

After eating meat, you must wait a designated amount of time before consuming any dairy product. The particular length of time varies among different Jewish customs but is usually between 1 and 6 hours. Pareve food items are considered neutral and may be eaten alongside either meat or dairy. However, if a pareve food item is prepared or processed using any equipment used to process meat or dairy, it is then reclassified as meat or dairy.

Only certain animal products are permitted

Many kosher rules address animal-based foods and the ways they are slaughtered and prepared. Dairy is treated as a separate entity and should never be consumed or prepared alongside meat or meat products. Fish and eggs are considered pareve and have their own sets of rules too.

Meat (fleishig): The term “meat” in the kosher context generally refers to edible flesh from certain types of mammals and fowl, as well as any products derived from them, like broth, gravy, and bones.

Jewish law states that for meat to be considered kosher, it must meet the following criteria:

It must come from ruminant animals with cloven — or split — hooves, such as cows, sheep, goats, lambs, oxen, and deer.

Forbidden veinsare extremely prevalent in the hindquarters of ruminant animals, and due to the complex and expensive nature of removing them, this part of the animal is generally not sold as Kosher in the US; therefore, the forequarter of the animal is typically what’s consumed.

Certain domesticated fowl can be eaten, such as chicken, geese, quail, dove, and turkey.

The animal must be slaughtered by a shochet — a person trained and certified to butcher animals according to Jewish laws.

The meat must be soaked to remove any traces of blood before cooking.

Any utensils used to slaughter or prepare the meat must be kosher and designated only for use with meat and meat products.

The following types of meat and meat products are not considered kosher:

meat from pigs, rabbits, squirrels, camels, kangaroos, and horses

predator or scavenger birds, such as eagles, owls, gulls, and hawks

cuts of beef that come from the hindquarters of the animal, such as flank, short loin, sirloin, round, and shank

Dairy (milchig)

Dairy products — such as milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt — are permitted, although they must adhere to specific rules in order to be considered kosher:

They must come from a kosher animal.

They must never be mixed with any meat-based derivatives, such as gelatinor rennet (an animal-derived enzyme), which is often the case with hard cheeses and other processed cheese products.

They must be prepared using kosher utensils and equipment that has not previously been used to process any meat-based product.

Fish and eggs (pareve)

Although they each have their own separate rules, fish and eggs are both classified as pareve, or neutral, which means they do not contain milk or meat.

Fish is considered kosher only if it comes from an animal that has fins and scales, such as tuna, salmon, halibut, or mackerel.

Water-dwelling creatures that don’t have these physical features — such as shrimp, crab, oysters, lobster, and other types of shellfish — are not permitted.

Unlike kosher meat, fish don’t require separate utensils for their preparation and may be eaten alongside meat or dairy products.

Eggs that come from kosher fowl or fish are permitted as long as they don’t have any traces of blood in them. This means that each egg must be inspected individually.

How does certification work?

Because of complex modern food production practices, ensuring that the foods you’re eating are kosher can be very challenging. That’s why systems are in place for certifying specific food products. kosher certification feature a label on their packaging indicating that they’ve met all the necessary requirements.

There are dozens of different kosher labels, many of which come from different certifying organizations. If a food is certified for Passover, this will be indicated with a separate label. The labels may also indicate whether a food is dairy, meat, or pareve.

If you’re trying to adhere to kosher dietary guidelines, it’s best to choose only foods with these labels in order to avoid accidentally eating something non-kosher.

The bottom line

why Kosher refers to a Jewish dietary framework for food preparation, processing, and consumption. Though variations exist, most guidelines forbid pairing meat and dairy and allow only certain animals to be eaten. Foods not considered meat or dairy are generally accepted, provided they’re produced using kosher equipment and practices.

Additional rules may be imposed during religious holidays. Because of the complexities of modern food production, it can be difficult to know whether many processed foods are kosher. To avoid any missteps, always look for kosher certification labels.