OK Kosher Certification is a major
kosher certification agency
A kosher certification agency is an organization or certifying authority that grants a ''hechsher'' ( he, הכשר, "seal of approval") to ingredients, packaged foods, beverages, and certain materials, as well as food-service providers and faciliti ...
based out of
Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...
. It is one of the "Big Five," the five largest kosher certifying agencies in the United States. OK also has a large kosher presence in Asia.
Early history
In 1935, Abraham Goldstein founded Organized Kashrut Laboratories (OK Labs) to meet the American
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community's need for
Kosher food
Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of '' kashrut'' (dietary law). The laws of ''kashrut'' apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish ...
products.
In 1968, Rabbi
Bernard Levy purchased OK Labs. He was already involved in kosher certification several years prior to the purchase. At the time, it was certifying a relatively small number of companies, but under his leadership, the organization began to grow, certifying companies internationally. Rabbi Levy instituted several improvements in the methods employed by kosher certifying agencies to verify the nature of products. Until then, many ingredients of products were assumed to be kosher, without visiting the company of each one. His policy was to travel to each company to see how the production was done first-hand. This led him to further investigate other companies, as many ingredients were composed of other sub-ingredients. As the organization grew, and the workload increased, Rabbi Levy's son, Rabbi Don Yoel Levy, joined the OK to help expand the organization.
Today
After the death of
Rabbi Bernard Levy in 1987, his son Rabbi Don Yoel Levy assumed leadership of the organization. Upon Rabbi Don Yoel Levy’s death in 2020, the Executive Rabbinical Council took responsibility of the OK.
With more than 10 million consumers seeking kosher products in the United States alone, the kosher food industry has seen rapid growth in the past two decades, with sales reaching $165 billion in 2002. Today the OK Certifies over 140,000 products, produced by over 1500 companies worldwide, including food giants such as
Kraft,
Snapple
Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and based in Plano, Texas, United States. The company (and brand), which was originally known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved som ...
, and
ConAgra
Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...
. It employs over 350 Rabbis worldwide.
Besides giving Kosher Certification, the OK actively promotes education and observance of kosher laws and attitudes. There are many books written on the subject, while most popular are the Kosher approved recipes.
Its headquarters are in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, with offices in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The OK holds an annual
Mashgichim
A mashgiach ( he, משגיח, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including sl ...
conference at the
Jewish Children's Museum. In 2014, OK Kosher won the rights to the
.kosher
.kosher is a generic top-level domain owned by OK Kosher Certification. The filing of the application for the domain in January 2012 began a two-year process during which eleven other kosher certification agencies filed official objections, argu ...
domain name. In 2015, Kehilla Kosher from Los Angeles merged with OK Kosher. The agency often expands its supervision of restaurants, mainly located in New York.
See also
*
Kosher foods
Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of ''kashrut'' (dietary law). The laws of ''kashrut'' apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish m ...
*
Kashrut
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
*
Mashgiach
A mashgiach ( he, משגיח, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including sl ...
*
Hechsher
A hechsher (; he, הֶכְשֵׁר "prior approval"; plural: ''hechsherim'') is a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items (usually foods) that conform to the requirements of halakha.
Forms
A hechsher may be a printed and signed certif ...
*
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
References
External links
OK Kosher Certification Official websiteOK's KosherSpirit magazineOK Kosher partner in Argentina, Rabbi Jmelnitzky's website
{{Kashrut
Religious consumer symbols
Kosher food certification organizations
Kosher food