Kosher groceries are divided into meat, dairy, and parve, which is food that doesn’t contain any meat or dairy products. Foods that are produced and eaten according to the Jewish dietary laws known as kashrut are considered kosher groceries. The kashrut dietary laws pertaining to the different food groups are very strict. It is believed that eating kosher groceries will help a person maintain a spiritual connection with God.
The kashrut sees a connection between the body and soul. This is why animals must be slaughtered in a humane way so that they don’t feel any fear. When animals are slaughtered while feeling terror, toxins are released that become part of their meat. These toxins will enter the bodies of people who eat the meat, rendering the meat non-kosher.
Meat is only kosher if it comes from animals that have split or cloven hooves and that are cud-chewing ruminants, such as cows, bulls, goats, sheep, and lambs. If the meat comes from an animal that only satisfies one of those conditions, it isn’t kosher. For example, pigs have cloven hooves but aren’t ruminants, so pork products cannot be certified as kosher groceries.
In general, anything that grows on shrubs, trees, or other plants is kosher. Foods grown in the soil, such as radishes, potatoes, garlic, and onions are also kosher groceries. All of this food is parve since it doesn’t contain any meat or dairy. Since animals containing more than four legs aren’t kosher, all insect matter must be removed from parve foods before they can be considered kosher groceries.
Dairy products are only allowed if they originate from kosher animals. Foods that combine meat and dairy are not kosher. After eating meat, someone must wait a prescribed amount of time before eating a dairy product in order to maintain a kosher diet. When someone eats a food containing dairy, no time interval must be observed before being able to eat meat.
Foods that contain blood aren’t considered kosher groceries. Several different ways of removing blood from meat have been developed so that meat can be made kosher. The eggs of kosher animals may be eaten, but each egg must be examined beforehand to ensure that it doesn’t contain any blood.
Fish must have fins and visible scales in order to be considered kosher groceries. Numerous fish fall into this category, such as flounder, trout, tuna, salmon, and cod. Any creature from the sea that doesn’t have fins and scales isn’t kosher. Banned seafood includes shellfish, crabs, lobsters, whales, and shrimp.
