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Searching for kosher preserved fruit…? Perhaps some of your clients have already asked you if your pastry or ice cream preparations are kosher... There is a growing demand for kosher food in many countries, especially those with important Jewish communities. Even many vegans seek kosher ingredients, because they also meet their strict diet requirements. Our kosher preserved fruit can help you get through to people willing to keep kosher and succeed with your products. In this article we will try to explain the meaning of kosher, and Jewish traditional dietery rituals.
What does kosher mean?
The word kosher means pure or suitable for consumption, in terms of quality and food security, by people practicing Judaism. The laws of the Torah, the sacred book of the Jews, establish a comprehensive legislation concerning allowed and forbidden foods. Although most of the kosher dietary laws refer to animal foods -carefully delimiting those permitted (beef, veil, sheep, lamb, goat, some fish, poultry) and how they must be slaughtered or can be combined-, the consumption of fruits and vegetables has also to follow some precepts.
The 3 categories of kosher foods
- Dairy (milchig): cheese, milk, yogourth, butter, ice-creams…
- Meat (fleischig): cattle, sheep, lamb, goat, some fish, poultry)
- Neutral (pareve): eggs, fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit…
To remain being kosher, certain types of food cannot be mixed. It is necessary to keep dairy products and meat completely separate, and they should not even be cooked with the same kitchen utensils or eaten in the same dishes. Pareve foods, however, can be mixed together and with any of the other two food categories separately.
Fuits, vegetables and any other food derived from plants
Fruits, vegetables, nuts and cereals are suitable foods for consumption, since Jewish laws consider that everything coming out of the soil is kosher. However, there are some exceptions to this general rule:
- Food contaminated by insects.
- Food exposed to pesticides, transgenic food or hybrid food.
- Fruits harvested from trees less than 3 years old.
Kosher preserved fruit: what is special about it?
Lazaya’s kosher preserved fruit meets all these requirements. Our preserved fruit does not contain dyes derived from insects (cochineal), but pigments obtained from vegetables and fruits. All our wide range of candied fruits, fruits in syrupm, fruit fillings, jellies and more have their Kosher certification.
Why do they have to be certified…? The major changes in the food industry that have taken place in the last years make it more and more challenging to track the traceability of each product separately. Keeping kosher is both easier and more difficult than ever before because of that… More than 80 percent of the food offered by the food industry has pre-processed ingredients. In spite of having improved food quality and safety, industrialization has also hampered the process; hence the importance of kosher certification.
In order to use the statement ‘kosher’ in the label, food process must be thoroughly checked by a certification company: they issue the kosher quality seal and the corresponding certificate attesting ritual pureness. These companies certify that the entire process of cultivation and production in the factory has been carried out in accordance with the precepts of Jewish law.
Lazaya’s kosher preserved fruit comply with all the requirements, and are foods certified by a prestigious North American certification company. With our products you can prepare kosher pastries, Kosher ice creams or offer delicious kosher menus in your restaurant, catering or hotel.
We can help you if you need quality kosher preserved fruit. Contact us.
