Kosher Law Focus: Why Yogurt Needs Kosher Certification

This week's hot topic is a large yogurt company's decision to discontinue its decades-old Jewish Kosher certification. I will leave it to political and ethical commentators to explain why the company made this decision, but the company's response to consumers has been that it has not changed any ingredient or process, implying that it is as compliant as before. Technically, I want to briefly explain why yogurt needs Kosher certification and why an independent audit is needed to ensure its Kosher status.

Yogurt is a semi-solid fermented dairy product that has been produced for thousands of years. Modern yogurt production involves adding fermenting bacteria (starter cultures) that consume the lactose in milk and produce lactic acid and flavor compounds. The increase in acidity coagulates the protein in milk to form yogurt's texture. The starter cultures usually carry Kosher certification; likewise, raw milk is also Kosher (unless you keep Cholov Yisroel). The bigger Kosher issue in yogurt is the other added ingredients.

Milk powder - to ensure yogurt sets well and does not run, producers add more milk protein to the milk, most commonly by adding milk powder. One problem with making milk powder is that lactose powder is usually added to standardize its protein content. Lactose powder is a by-product of cheese production and may have various Kosher problems, such as contamination by animal-fat lipase, rennet and non-Kosher cheese.

Flavor - under Australian food law, a product's flavor component may be listed simply as "flavor." A flavor can have dozens of components (the largest I have assessed had 124 different components!) The yogurt company itself does not even know what its flavor is. A flavor may contain a large number of non-Kosher components, especially fruit and cream flavors containing large amounts of oily substances (esters and lactones), which may come from animals, or at least be contaminated by animal fat. Flavor companies secretly disclose this information to Kosher bodies for assessment to ensure Kosher compliance.

Colorings - the natural red coloring (E120) comes from the cochineal insect, which is non-Kosher, while anthocyanin (E163) comes from grape skin, which has Kosher problems.

Other ingredients - stabilizers and thickeners such as diglycerides and gelatin can be extracted from animals; sodium caseinate and whey protein concentrate are by-products of cheese production, all with the problems mentioned above. Enzymes such as lactase (used in lactose-free products) are made by microbial fermentation and can contain various non-Kosher components in the growth medium.

Other products produced on the same line - without proper Kosher cleaning, the status of other products processed on the same line will affect the Kosher status of the Kosher product. Even a shared steam system can cause Kosher problems.

Clearly, given the above considerations, yogurt producers need to be audited by Jewish Kosher experts to ensure compliance. Because the Kosher status of ingredients constantly changes, and given the fluidity of the food industry, continuous inspection is needed to ensure the food remains properly Kosher. Not only does Kosher food need continuous auditing; other food quality and safety bodies, including government departments such as the Victoria Dairy Food Safety division, or third-party certification bodies such as BRC, SQF, ISO9001, WQA, Coles, Aldi, etc., all conduct multiple audits to ensure ongoing compliance.

In our experience, the most effective way to change a company's mind is through positive consumer feedback. If you want this or any other product to comply with Kosher law, the best way is to respectfully request the company to comply by phone, email or social media.