The Kosher Food Tax: Consumer Rip-Off or Brilliant Corporate Marketing Plan?

The Kosher Food Tax is something that has long been debated but it is something that most people are completely ignorant about. A food that is listed as kosher is something that has been prepared according to Jewish (Kashrut) law. What products can be considered eligible for a blessing? There are restrictions on the types of fish and fowl that can be blessed and consumed and that carries over to ritual butchering (the act of killing an animal in a human and sanctioned way).

Before I get into the details of the Kosher Tax, here is a bit of history. The OK Kosher Certification was founded in 1935 to serve as a model for kosher foods. Their symbol is the letter "K" with a circle around it and can be found on products from companies such as Keebler, Kellogg, Norco, Proctor & Gamble, Bear Naked, Trader Joe's and hundreds of others. After speaking with a local manager of a major vegetable packaging company who wished to remain anonymous I found out the bottom line cost of the Kosher Tax on non-meat food items.

Does the Kosher Tax really raise the price of products? That depends on what you are eating and where you are buying it. In regards to meat products, yes, the price of kosher meat is more than regular meat but no one is ever forced to choose that specific cut from the butcher case. If the Kosher Tax bothers you that much, seek out foods without the kosher symbol on them. Most of the larger manufacturer choose to have their items kosher to appeal to a wider consumer base; in some cases people are basing their buying decisions not on religion but on the way the food was prepared and due to allergies.