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Dairy Allergies and Kosher Foods

© Colleen Kaemmerer

This month, I will discuss the use of kosher foods by people with food allergies, dairy in particular. However, there are two important points to remember:

• This article will contain only a brief explanation of some information that I have found regarding kosher labeling and food allergies. Please see the links at the end of the article for further information.

• If you (or a family member) are highly allergic to a particular food, you cannot rely on a pareve (or parve) label alone. There have been cases of trace amounts of dairy, for example, in pareve (non-dairy/non-meat) products which have caused serious allergic reactions.

Jewish dietary laws require that foods be processed in certain ways, and that certain types of foods cannot be mixed. The kosher term relating to dairy products is pareve (or parve). A food that is pareve does not contain milk, milk by-products, or meat. If the product is a certified kosher non-dairy item, this term will be on the package. Other kosher symbols only indicate that a product is kosher, not dairy-free. A caveat: A "P" means Passover, NOT pareve, and does not indicate the item is dairy-free.

As I mentioned previously, a pareve label is not a guarantee for someone highly allergic to dairy. This is because the process of equipment kosherization, while complete according to religious law, may leave traces of dairy particles in the air, for example. The particles can end up in a pareve food, and can affect a susceptible individual. If this is a concern, you should check with the manufacturer to see if dairy products are processed on the same equipment. A few manufacturers have taken this into account and label packages accordingly. I checked one brand of soy milk that I have at home; it had a kosher symbol plus the letters "DE". The "DE" means that dairy products are run on the same equipment. Not all manufacturers add this to the label, however. (Also, keep in mind that a "D" on a kosher product indicates dairy as an ingredient.)

Here are a few helpful links regarding kosher foods:

http://www.koshertodayonline.com/kosher%... Kosher Today Archives - a 1998 article on kosher foods and allergies which goes into more detail on the subject.

http://www.ou.org/kosher/default.htm The Orthodox Union Kosher Page has general information, alerts, and a kosher primer.

http://www.kashrut.com Kashrut.com offers alerts on mis-labeled kosher products, kosher product listings, and links to other sites.

http://www.kashrus.org/kosher/symbol.html This page has a list of some of the various symbols and descriptions.

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