Are Vegan Restaurants Kosher (Jewish)?

In market research on consumers seeking Jewish Kosher-certified food, there is an interesting phenomenon: Jews make up only a small portion of "Kosher consumers." Other groups include people of different religious faiths who consider Jewish certification healthier or safer, as well as vegetarians and vegans. With its strict standards, Kosher is relied upon by many consumer groups and has grown into a broad network. But on the other hand: can Kosher consumers rely on vegetarian or vegan certification?

For those unfamiliar, vegans are people who do not eat (or use) any animal products, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy and other animal derivatives. These standards clearly reduce certain risks for Kosher consumers, but other risks remain. If a restaurant is advertised as vegan, here are some issues Jewish consumers need to note:

1. Insects

Fruits and vegetables are inherently Kosher. Insects, on the other hand, are not Kosher, as the Torah says, "All things that swarm upon the ground you shall not eat." Unfortunately, in recent decades, insect infestation in fruits and vegetables has become increasingly common. Even the most common produce often has many small insects visible to the naked eye, such as aphids, thrips and leaf miners. Therefore, to make them Kosher, they usually require special washing and inspection before consumption. Most vegan restaurants cannot wash produce from the perspective of Jewish law in a way acceptable to Kosher consumers.

2. Bishul Yisrael

Bishul Yisrael is a Jewish maxim requiring Jews to participate in cooking food considered "fit for a king's table" (oleh al shulchan melachim). Raw food cannot be eaten, including vegetables such as potatoes and eggplants, which are traditionally not eaten raw either. In a Jewish restaurant staffed by non-Jewish chefs, the mashgiach usually lights the initial flame used for cooking. In a vegan restaurant, this requirement is very likely absent.

3. Production equipment

Food is not the only thing that can acquire Kosher or non-Kosher status - production equipment, containers, utensils, etc., also have Kosher or non-Kosher status. If the equipment producing vegan products is shared with non-vegan producers, a vegan certification body will still certify the product as vegan. If the company is Kosher-certified, the equipment may be regularly cleaned to prevent obvious signs of cross-contamination, but there is also a special cleaning method called Kashering, between the non-Kosher and Kosher products that are not required for vegan products. Therefore, a vegan-certified product may be made on equipment that produces non-Kosher products, which would render the product non-Kosher. In addition, in a restaurant setting, if the plates, knives, forks, utensils, etc., are not all newly purchased, they may have previously been used for non-Kosher hot food, which would also render the new product non-Kosher.

4. Grape juice/wine

Wine and grape juice have a special place in Jewish ritual, so the entire process of making wine or grape juice must be done by a person of the Jewish faith (i.e., from grape crushing, pressing and racking to taste testing). Natural grape flavor extracted from grape crushing must be Kosher. Likewise, balsamic vinegar, also made from grape juice, requires Kosher certification, and most products containing balsamic vinegar, such as salad dressing, are very likely not Kosher. Of course, vegan restaurants also have no restrictions on wine, grape juice and their derivatives.

5. Jewish ownership

If a vegan restaurant is owned by a person of the Jewish faith, this may bring additional issues from a Jewish perspective. For example, the dishes used by Jews must be immersed in a ritual bath (mikveh) for ritual purity. Another possible issue relates to Passover, during which Jews are not allowed to eat any product made from the five grains (chametz). Even after Passover, other Jews are not allowed to consume chametz if it was owned by a Jew during Passover (chametz sheavar alav haPesach). There is also a requirement that a Jewish owner has the duty to separate white bread from products that blend the five types of grain.

6. Third-party certification

Even if a restaurant advertises itself as vegan, requiring such a restaurant to be certified by any third-party vegan certification body is not an industry standard. As other Jewish Kosher bodies would no doubt agree, we at the Canadian Jewish council COR see the importance of an objective third-party body, which sets standards and then ensures our certified entities comply with them through rigorous regular audits.