Plant-Based Food - Vegan and Jewish Food - Kosher

Jews observe Kosher all year round. Keeping Kosher means following the 3,000-year-old Jewish dietary laws of the Torah. The basic Kosher rules forbid eating pork and shellfish, or mixing meat and dairy. In a Kosher kitchen, the pots, dishes and utensils used for handling meat cannot be used for dairy (and vice versa).

Because Kosher food includes meat and dairy, Kosher food is not always Vegan. After all, a plant-based diet does not include meat or dairy. But does this mean that all Vegan food is Kosher?

Not necessarily:

Generally speaking, Vegan is Kosher. However, if you dig deeper, you will find some cases where this statement is incorrect. The subtle differences between Kosher standards and plant-based in some areas include:

- Kosher vegetables and fruits must be washed according to specific standards to avoid insects.

- Certain Kosher foods need to be prepared by a Jew.

- Kosher cooking must be certified by a rabbi or a Kosher body. Therefore, certain baked goods/soy products/grain-processed products that have passed Vegan certification are not necessarily Kosher.

- A Kosher kitchen needs its own cookware, which cannot be used for non-Kosher. But fish are not affected by this. A Vegan kitchen, however, may not process any animal-derived ingredients.

- Wine, grape juice and balsamic vinegar are not Kosher unless certified.

- Certain fish are Kosher but not plant-based. So when certifying products made with collagen or gelatin from fish skin or fish bones, such products can be Kosher, but not plant-based Vegan. In addition, unfertilized eggs can also be certified as Kosher, but are not plant-based Vegan.

Therefore,

Is a Vegan-certified product Kosher? Not necessarily.

Is a Kosher-certified product Vegan? Not necessarily.