How Kosher Certification Works

Initial Inquiry

Tell us about your company, manufacturing facility and the products you would like to certify.

At this first stage, it is particularly helpful to tell us whether certification is being requested by a specific customer, whether a particular kosher agency has been specified, and which markets you intend to serve.

Raw Materials Review

We review the products proposed for certification together with the relevant raw materials, processing aids and suppliers.

All raw materials are relevant for the evaluation of the kosher status of a product. Materials that processed by toll manufacturers and toll processors should be identified, too.

Many raw materials require kosher certification, but many other raw materials may be acceptable with other documentation. Where additional documentation or kosher certification is required for particular materials, we will identify this and discuss the available options with you.

Facility Assessment

We assess the production processes and equipment relevant to the proposed certification. We assess also the risk of contamination from non-kosher and uncertified products and processes.

Kosher standards define contamination vectors somewhat differently that other industry standards, and we will guide you through this part of the process, too.

An initial assessment is often made at a teleconference, which is followed by an on-site inspection covering production lines, equipment, storage, cleaning procedures and other relevant aspects of the manufacturing process.

Establishing the Certification Requirements

Based on our assessment, we establish the requirements for kosher production, in accordance with commonly accepted industry standards.

These may concern ingredients and suppliers, production scheduling, segregation, equipment, central steam, cleaning or kosherization, documentation and the required level of rabbinic supervision.

Certification

Once the applicable requirements have been fulfilled, the approved products and production arrangements can be covered by Fidelity Kosher certification.

The certificate identifies the products covered by the certification and their applicable kosher status.

Ongoing Supervision

Kosher certification is an ongoing program rather than a one-time product assessment.

Depending on the products and production arrangements, certification is maintained through appropriate supervision, documentation, periodic inspections and control of relevant changes.

What Happens When Something Changes

Changes to a certified product can have implications for its kosher status. This may include a change of ingredient, supplier, recipe, processing aid, production equipment or manufacturing process.

Certified manufacturers should therefore inform Fidelity Kosher of relevant changes before they are implemented in kosher-certified production. We can then determine whether additional documentation, approval or other action is required.