Milk Allergy and Kosher Labelling for Good Health

On a recent airline flight we ordered kosher meals, but only for one person in our family. The stewardess looked at us quizzically, but gave us our kosher meal anyway. She double checked to ensure we had indeed ordered it. There was no mistake; we were the ones that ticked the kosher box when booking our tickets. As the long flight progressed the stewardess, now quite curious, asked us why we would order the kosher meal. On this trans Pacific flight, of the 500 or so passengers, we were the only ones that ordered a kosher meal.

___The stewardess had reason to question our Judaic background. You see, we are not Jewish, we do not look Jewish, nor are we in the process of conversion. We have no Judaica in our house. We do recognize the Jewish High Holidays. They are marked prominently on our calendars, as are most calendars in Canada. We often call our Jewish friends and wish them happiness. Shalom!

___Other than water, there are few items we need more basic than healthy food. Food that makes you sick is simply not worth eating. My daughter has a milk allergy, which somewhat narrows the foods she can eat. While it directly affects her, as a family we have markedly changed our diet as well, and for the better.

___Here in Canada we have lax food labeling laws that allow milk in products that are not labeled as containing milk. One would think this would be important enough to protect those who have a milk allergy. Milk, like peanuts and other allergens, can severely harm or kill people. The condition called anaphylaxis, is life threatening and should be taken seriously by all. After a couple of scary incidents with seemingly innocuous food such as hot dogs and margarine, we knew something had to be done.

___In fact for decades milk has been heavily promoted in print and other media as healthy for all Canadians. The Dairy Farmers of Canada have run a fantastic campaign for decades. I got the distinct impression when I was young that drinking milk was as important as breathing fresh air. You’ll see billboards of beautiful people dressed in black spotted cow costumes, or having milk splashed over their well muscled bodies. We get a free milk calendar in the newspaper each and every year. One cannot fault the milk producers from putting on a great campaign. Milk is a healthy drink, just not for everyone.

___So you might be wondering what a milk allergy has to do with kashruth laws? I was talking to Kiam, a Jewish friend. His father is a Rabbi that did factory inspections for foods to certify that certain foods adhered to Kashruth laws. As I explained my daughter’s milk allergy to Kiam he recommended I look for Jewish “parve”, or “non-dairy” certification on products we buy. You mean you certify that products are milk free? With great patience and understanding he said yes, and much better than most governments. He told me that Jewish laws are very strict, much stricter than Canadian food laws. Milk and other foods cannot be mixed unless properly labeled as such. If milk was used in a production line, the whole line needed to be washed and scrubbed down before any other non-milk food could be certified as “parve”. Jewish foods need a certification so that Jewish families are able to lead a strict kosher existence. This is one of the reasons why Jewish food is more expensive than your regular run of the mill foods.

___I ran home to check out what Kiam had told be, somewhat in disbelief. Sure enough, there were Kashruth symbols on many of our food products, like the “U” and “COR” certifications. The “COR” is the certification stamp for the Kashruth Council of Canada, and the “U” in the circle is the stamp from the The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. Where you see “Parve”, as in the bottom photo, this means there is absolutely no milk used in this product. Of course not everything needs the Parve label. For example, canned tomatoes with nothing added need not state Parve. This is because it is obviously 100% vegetable.

AAAIf you are Jewish this certification will be old news, but for us it was an epiphany. It has made our family life a little easier and we live a little better.

___To our Jewish friends, to the Kashruth Council of Canada and The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations I send out a heartfelt “Shalom”.

Update May 14 2012: I discovered a COR symbol with “DE” beside it, so I called the Kashrus Council of Canada (COR) (4600 Bathurst St. #240, Toronto, Ontario M2R 3V2, Phone: (416) 635-9550; Fax: (416) 635-8760, Rabbinic Administrator: Rabbi Mordechai Levin) in Toronto for clarification. The receptionist put me straight. “DE” means dairy equipment, meaning the product contains no dairy but was manufactured on equipment that has handled milk. Parve means the product and equipment has never touched milk. Are they strict or what?