what is kosher gelatin made from - since it is parve - I am wondering what is in it

TIZ

Helainemarie 

Dear Helainmarie, The leading US brand, KoJel, llists as its ingredients:  sugar, carrageenan (seaweed), adipic acid, potassium citrate, natural & artrificial flavors, FD&C red #40 (strawberry flavor).  Yours in Him, Deb

WOW!  Really?  Do you know if all Kosher gelatin vegetarian?  I don't exactly know how kosher works but know that it is about the items (meat & dairy) being certified kosher.  I assumed (perhaps wrongly!!) that the kosher gelatin used in various food items meant that the gelatin was produced from kosher certified cows.  Now I am wondering . . . and getting excited . . . to think that there might be a whole slew of products I could use that I have been avoiding because I thought they weren't actually vegetarian, just kosher.  Yogurt in particular comes to mind as I buy yogurt without gelatin (kosher or not) because I thought it wasn't vegetarian!  But the only brand available to me without gelatin costs a lot more than others without kosher gelatin.

Would LOVE to hear any input you have Deb!  Thanks in advance!!

Absolutely, JennyLynn, all gelatin in Kosher products taht are made of dairy products is from seaweed in combo with ingredients such as the ones in Ko-Jel.  Ditto for what we call "pareve" (neutral) products -- ones that have neither dairy nor meat.  Eggs are pareve.  Fish is pareve, too.  I am basically a vegetarian myself, so have never purchased meat with gelatin -- I don't know whether there is any gelatin in chicken liver spread.  Therefore, I cannot advise you as to the base of the gelatin used in meat products.

Go to it, yoghurt gal!

Yours in Him, Deb

Deb, thank you so much!!  I am absolutely, so completely over the top excited, I can't even begin to tell you!  For years I have avoided gelatin of all kinds because I though it was not vegetarian (except for a brand that says vegetarian on it at Whole Foods but I rarely if ever buy it-I don't like it much on its own).  But as an ingredient in SO MANY manufactured items, I have simply avoided it as I wasn't sure that it was vegetarian or not.  You have completely made my day!  I can't wait to go to the store next time-so many blackballed items with kosher gelatin listed are now possibilities!! 

If you have a minute-I would love if you could explain the terms to me.  Pareve=neutral, meaning it does not contain meat or dairy (but may be fish and/or eggs)-is this correct?  And now I am wondering if I understand exactly what the term kosher means-I thought it meant that meat and non-meat items were prepared separately and that there was a blessing or certification of some kind on manufacturing processes but I think now that I don't know exactly and would love if you would be willing to share this knowledge with me.

Thanks in advance.  You have truly made my day with the kosher gelatin!

Dear Jennylynn, We speak of four kinds of food:  traif ("trafe"), pareve, meat, & dairy.  An example of traif (forbidden) food is pork, another is shrimp, another is venison that has been hunted instead of raised on a farm.  Also, dairy foods made with meat rennant are traif.  The last is an example of what you were worried about, I believe.

I cannot find affordable regular hard cheese in the market that is certified Kosher.  (Kosher cottage cheese, yoghurt, & ricotta are cheap & plentiful.)  SO, I buy vegan cheese which is pareve.  (Pareve foods lack dairy or meat ingredients.)

There are 2 levels of Kosher cheese.  One just avoids rennant fro m meat (there is also synthetic remnant, which the vegan cheeses contain.).  There is also a higher level, which the Orthodox seek, which has rabbinical supervision throughout its manufacturing.

You aer correct that we do not eat meat & milk together.  ANY product that combines the two is treif.  We keep separate dishes, pots, utensils,tablecloths & sponges, etc for milk & for meat.

Kosher meat has to be slaughtered in a ritual, kind (just one cut at the jugular) way, by a G-dly & knwoledgeable slaughterer.  The butcher &/or cook tehn has to drain all of hte blood out of the meat before cooking it -- the life is in teh blood & G-d forbids us to ingest it.  The sinew portion cannot  be eaten by Jews because the Patriarch Jacob was assailed by an angel, Jacob was winning, teh angel had to get away by daylight, so Jacob told the angel, "I'll not let you go free until you name me."  So, teh angel called him Israel, but got away in leaving a disability in a groin sinew.  It's possible, but very expensive, to remove the sinew, soJews don't eat most kinds of steaks. 

Produce has to be inspected for & washed at home thoroughly to avoid insects, as we are forbidden to eat almost all kinds of insects.  Other than that, produce, like fish & eggs, is pareve.  However, we do not eat eggs that contain blood (fertilized eggs) so we put one egg at a time into a cup to check it, before adding it to the recipe.  Some kinds of fish are NOT kosher, they have to have certain kinds of scales & fins & can't be predators (like catfish).

I hope that this helps some!  Feel free to ask any more questions!  Yours in Him, Deb

Thanks Deb, for the great explanation!  I especially appreciate understanding pareve as it marked on many foods but I have not known exactly what it means.  Though I don't seek out certified kosher cheese, I do only buy cheeses made with vegetarian or microbial rennet to avoid cheese produced with animal rennet.  Pareve is marked on many cheeses (especially at Trader Joe's) which will help me narrow down the available options easily!

I have had Jewish friends, some kosher, some not really and though I knew the basics, I really have a big knowledge gap.  Thanks for filling it somewhat-and helping to make my shopping choices more clear!

PS-after reading this thread, I did a search on kosher gelatin and found there is a great debate about it!  Apparently there is some interpretation on what types of gelatin can be kosher (some rabbis are willing to certify gelatin produced from animal hides, bones or fish bones if the fish are kosher fish and if the animal hides/bones have had all traces of meat removed).  Most, though, is produced from carageenan as you mentioned.  My reading was very interesting as it seems that many in the Jewish community are asking for more stringent requirements because what one rabbi may interpret as kosher another may not.  Have you encountered this debate at all?  Does this debate apply to other food items?  I always find these types of things very interesting and so informative!

I really appreciate too knowing how the idea of keeping kosher came about.  Thanks again!

Oh, Yes! JennyLynn, "Where there are 2 Jews, there are 3 synagogues."  (We tend to disagree, & we tend to argue.)

There is earnest debate on all areas of Kashrut.  Perhaps the most important is about meat.  Many Jews are now arguing that the animals must be free-range & vegetarian-fed to have happy lives before they are slaughtered.

And, my willingness to use vegan products when I can't find a hecksher (Kashrut symbol) is not a majority view.  It's fairly common in liberal cities like San Francisco & Seat tle though.

Now, you seem to also be asking where in teh Bible Kashrut is set forth as requirements.   It is a "holiness code" set forth in Leviticus 11:44-45 & Deuteronomy 14:21 as well as other places.  The Rabbis who taught around the time of Jesus' life added many explanations as to how to carry this code out in everyday life.  For example, if milk & meat touch in a manner that only 1/60th of the contents of the pot are dairy, or 1/60th of the food is meat, the food still needs to be thrown out, but the pot can be made Kosher again in an easy way.  ALso, if cold has touched cold (no heat applied to either surface), it's OK to use the utensil.  (Say that you have a watermelon to cut, & no knife other than Chef's knife to cut it with; then you can still serve the watermelon with any kind of meal even thought he knife had been dedicated to meat, or dedicated to milk.)

PS You'll sound "in the kknow" if you call Kosher by its Hebrew name, "Kashrut."  You'll be a real "maven" (expert) if you refer to a hecksher!  Next, folks will ask you to refer htem to a good Rabbi!

Yours in Him, Deb

Dear JennyLynn, It just so happens that in today's NYTimes.com, there is a story about teh largest US Kosher meat facility, which was recently raided to arrest illegal immigrants.  Four rabbis attended a protest march there, & demanded that Kashrut standards be augmented to require Kosher facilities to maintain humane employment standards.  Yours in Him, Deb

You are too funny Deb!  I would never has thought there were such strong debates over kashrut standards!!

Since much is left to interpretation (including what animals should be fed and what constitutes meat etc) I imagine it is rather difficult and somewhat confusing for people that don't substitute vegan options for those that are somewhat of a gray area.

Very interesting information indeed-thanks again!

And, I am definitely on the lookout for those symbols now-especially pareve.