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May 19-2005
Can you trust a Kosher label
By Shekhinah Raziel Golden-Dove Davis
A few weeks back while watching the evening news I learned about a natural colorant called Carmine.
What’s Carmine and why is it important you might ask, well I will tell you. First of it is made from the dried bodies of a female Coccus Cacti. A Coccus Cacti is a bug (Yes I said bug) that lives on many different forms of Cacti. Carmine a derivative of this little red bug.
Many well know products caring the kosher mark on their label, such as many yogurt products, some ice cream products and few other weird things (email me at: raziel133@yahoo.com and I will send you the list). Most people have no idea that this is what they are eating; this would include me, believe me I was surprised.
My first complaint with any company selling a “kosher food” with this or any insect based food color should Labeled it as insect derived; to do other then this could and should be viewed as deceptive. I would rather at least have the choice to eat it or not.
The second is that I know that since it is not a cricket or locust (not that I would eat either) that there is no way it could be Kosher.
I have talked with many Rabbis’ on the subject of whether this is Kosher or not just to hear there take on this. One of those was Rabbi David Sheinkopf, He is the Rabbi that certifies Dannon Yogurt products as Kosher with a K. I have enclosed a copy of the letter he sent me for your viewing…
I am sure after reading this you may conclude as I did that under these terms animal poop properly dried could also be Kosher by Rabbi Sheinkopf’s standards.
In my view after only reading from the Torah I would have to say no it’s not kosher and this guy with his many degrees is incorrect and needs to re think the whole thing. The rules of what is kosher and what is not can be found in the Torah or in the Christian bible’s books of Moses. Orthodox Rabbi’s who study Torah and Talmud have said no…that eating these little red bugs are not Kosher and thus the reason that the food or other item that bear a K and not the U or OU of true Kosher foods should be avoided. Rules on what they deem truly Kosher and why can be found at www.OUKOSHER.org.
From my own view and because of this I and many others are now boycotting companies that bear the questionable K = Kosher mark. I offer to you the thought of you are what you eat, garbage in and well I guess you get the idea…..