Image via Wikipedia//Kosher food labelThis is just the beginning of a couple of short articles covering the issue of kosher.
Glatt kosher
The technical definition of glatt kosher - from the Yiddish, smooth - is refering, according to the Halacha, to meat from animals with smooth or defect-free lungs. The term glatt is often used colloquially to imply a higher standard of kashrut, similar to mehadrin. Informally used, it implies that a product was processed under a stricter standard of kashrut.
A kosher meat must come from a kosher animal and slaughtered in a kosher way. After the animal is slaughtered, the animal is opened and examined to determine whether the lungs are smooth. If defects on the lungs are found, the meat is considered treif (torn, mortally injured). If the lungs are found to be defect-free or smooth, the meat is glatt kosher.
Mehadrin refers to the highest level of kosher supervision. Literally, it means beautified or embellished. In following Jewish dietary laws, there is a good amount of room for leniency or stringency. Those keeping kosher l'mehadrin are considered as embellishing the Mitzvot.
Treif refers to anything that is not kosher. The literal meaning of treifah is torn or mortally wounded. It is written, "Do not eat meat from an animal torn (treifa) in the field" (Exodus 22:30 - http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm). The rabbis interpreted this to mean that any animal or fowl which, as a result of a birth defect, disease or inflicted wound, suffers from a mortally defective organ or limb (or an animal close to death) may be considered a treif or non-kosher.
The supervision process
A mashgiach (משגיח) is supervising the kashrut status of kosher establishments, including slaughterhouses, food manufacturers, hotels, caterers, nursing homes, restaurants, butchers, groceries, or cooperatives. He usually works as the on-site supervisor and inspector, representing the kashrut organization or a local rabbi, who actually makes the policy decisions for what is or is not acceptably kosher. In many small communities, the certifying rabbi (רב המכשיר) acts as his own mashgiach. The usual requirements for becoming a mashgiach - a man or a woman - are being Jewish, observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of kashrut (shomer kashrut), and doing mitzvot.
Different rabbis will have different requirements. Even the same rabbi may have different requirements dependent on the type of establishment being supervised (for example, supervision of a slaughterhouse will be very different from that of a grocery). Sometimes the only requirement is that the person is Jewish and knowledgeable of the laws of kashrut.
The concept of kosher certification guarantees the kosher integrity of all ingredients used in a kosher certified product in a factory setting.
Regardless of specific eligibility requirements for a mashgiach, they take on a great responsibility and the burden of a community, because he or she puts their good name and the name of the community on everything done on their watch.
He or she is required whenever meat or fish is prepared or cooked. They check fresh eggs for blood spots before they are used in cooking, and must inspect all vegetables for forbidden insects before use.
The mashgiach is responsible for taking hallah, the tithe of dough set aside for kohanim serving in the Temple in Jerusalem. Because the Temple is currently not erected, the ḥallah is burned in its stead.
The mashgiach must also light pilot lights and turn on cooking and heating equipment to satisfy minimum requirements of Bishul Yisroel (food cooked by a Jew) and Pas Yisroel (bread baked by a Jew), in a way that a Jew must be involved in the cooking of any kosher food "fit for a King's table." (Maimonides, Ma’akhalot Asurot 17:15)
To satisfy requirements for Sephardic Jews, the mashgiah may be required to play an even more active role in the cooking process.
One of the most pressing and often difficult jobs of a mashgiach, however, is the checking in and verification of shipments. The mashgiach must ensure that every food product that arrives at the facility has a reliable hekhsher (הכשר) before it is used.
Suppliers often substitute products that are out of stock with non-kosher products. If a product arrives without a hekhsher, the mashgiach must make sure the product is clearly marked as non-kosher and is not used, but returned to the supplier. Sometimes a product arrives that is purportedly kosher, but no hekhsher can be found. In this case, the mashgiach should obtain a valid letter of certification from the certifying rabbi or kashrut agency, usually by contacting the manufacturer.
In addition to checking hekhsherim, the mashgiach must also check that all meat products that arrive are double sealed, usually by inner and outer plastic bags or an inner plastic bag and a sealed box, and that all wine is kosher wine.
As many organizations and associations are involved in the elaboration of the standards and approaches of kosher, the lists may differ significantly from a case to another.
Great strides, in the last several years, have been made towards ensuring that kosher products are transported only in kosher approved tanker trucks.
(In many settings the mashgiach is merely responsible for making sure that the above tasks are performed by responsible, knowledgeable, and well-trained persons.)
A mashgiach plays social as well as technical roles in explaining kosher rules to the Jewish and non-Jewish community and forging close relationships with employees and customers.
Pareve
Foods that contain absolutely no meat or dairy derivatives, and have not been cooked or mixed with any meat or diary foods are called pareve, as it is prohibited mixing meat and milk. Pareve foods can be eaten together with either meat or dairy foods.
Common pareve foods are: eggs, fish, fruit, vegetables, grains and juices in their natural, unprocessed state. Processed pareve foods typically include pasta, soft drinks, coffee and tea, and many types of candy and snacks. Processed products, however, must have reliable kashruth supervision. Dark chocolate might be pareve; milk chocolate definitely is not.
Fruits and veggies must be checked to ensure against the presence of small insects and larvae and eggs must also be checked for blood spots.
Pas Yisroel :פת ישרא
The rule according to which products are grain-products that were cooked or baked with the participation of an Rabbi. This must be, at minimum, the ignition of the flame used to prepare, cook, or bake the grain product. In classical Rabbinic Judaism, this requirement is considered restricted to the five classical grains of Judaism - wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye. In the modern food-production industry, commercial bakeries may accomplish a status of Pas Yisroel by the use of something called the "Shain system", (named for the inventor, Rabbi Yehuda Shain) whereby an entire apparatus can be ignited remotely by an observant Jew.
Sources:
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/glossaryofkosherterms/g/mehadrin.htm
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherbasics/f/glatt.htm
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherbasics/f/treif.htm
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-issues-cholovYisroel.htm
Zushe Yose Blech, Kosher Food Production, second edition, Wiley Blackwell, 2008
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