March 27, 2008
An article on OUKosher.org notes proudly that the Orthodox Union is the most recognized symbol of kashrut in the United States. The article goes on to say that Jewish consumers consistently name the OU as their top choice for ensuring the food they purchase meets the most stringent kosher standard, while non-Jews perceive the OU as signifying the highest level of product safety and cleanliness.
Yet the Forward reported in August 2007 that food safety is something OU certifiers leave to government inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. “Our general policy is that we are relying on the USDA and the FDA to make sure that companies are in compliance,” the CEO of the OU’s kosher division, Rabbi Menachem Genack, told the paper. “We follow their lead, but we’re only following. They have the expertise and experience to do it.”
Many rabbis have told us that multiple issues come into play when determining whether a product is kosher. It is not just a question of the ritual slaughter of an animal, that vegetables are free of bugs and parasites, or whether wine has been boiled. Whether products are safe, animals treated well, and workers treated fairly and safely are all issues that can impact whether a product can be considered kosher.
If kosher authorities waive their responsibility to investigate such matters, it nonetheless does not release them from the obligation to act when information from such experts becomes public knowledge. The OU has an obligation to the kosher consumer, the Jewish community, and the general public to act. It has an obligation to protect the image of kashrut.
Reports have surfaced regarding tsa’ar ba’alei hayim, the mistreatment of animals, in kosher processing plants in Postville, Iowa, and Gordon, Nebraska. The reports were written by USDA inspectors and became public as a result of a Freedom of Information Act inquiry. The reports are available for inspection by anyone who cares to look.
Mistreatment of workers, including the shorting of paychecks at the Agriprocessors facility in Postville and an attempt to deny the rights of workers to organize at the Rubashkin facility in Brooklyn, are well known. The Postville situation is now the subject of a lawsuit brought by workers, and the attempt to prevent workers from exercising their right to organize in Brooklyn was overturned by the National Labor Relations Board and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. All of this is well documented.
On several occasions we have witnessed the recall of kosher meat packed by Agriprocessors that could have endangered public safety, and we have seen USDA letters that conclude that “these findings lead us to question your ability to maintain sanitary conditions and to produce a safe and wholesome product.”
This past week the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) charged Agriprocessors with 39 abuses, including more than a dozen health-related violations, and fines of more than $180,000. In the last three years, Agriprocessors has paid the Environmental Protection Agency and/or OSHA more than $750,000 in fines.
As in the past, the firm in question claims to have addressed these issues (some of these new charges were for repeat abuses). And yet there is an undeniable pattern that cannot be addressed by merely adding still more kosher inspectors at the plants.
Some, like Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Yona Metzger, have suggested that some of the allegations against kosher slaughterhouses are the result of non-Jews trying to harm kashrut observance. But the charge rings hollow in the face of such obvious abuses by a kosher meat packer. It is not anti-Semitism at work here, but our own failure to police the actions of such companies. If we do not act it is not surprising when, to our embarrassment, others do.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (1740-1810) set a precedent that should be heeded when, noting the oppressive working conditions of a local matza bakery, he declared the matza treif — non-kosher — as a result.
More than 40 years ago, Hebrew National launched its famous advertising saying it answered to a “higher authority” than government inspectors. That is the image of kashrut in the United States today: that those who keep kosher strive to answer to a higher authority. It is an image worth protecting.
As the preeminent kosher certifying body in the U.S., it is time for the OU to take action.
Avram B. Lyon is former executive director of the Jewish Labor Committee. Elihu Davison is former News Director at WEVD and vice chair of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
The opinions expressed here are their own.
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