OU Addresses Complexities of Oil Usage

Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on May 27, 2010 under Kashrus Organization | View Comments

New York…by KT Staff Reporters…Just when you have perfected the important practice of checking vegetables for insects comes a new guide on the kashrus of oil by the Orthodox Union (OU). The “OU Manual for the Oil Industry” is designed for mashgichim and others who supervise cooking and baking with oil. It follows on the heels of the OU’s guidebook for the baking industry. Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, stated: “This manual is an important step in the department’s goal to provide kosher industry professionals and kosher consumers alike with a thorough, extensive education in kosher laws and practices.” Printed in full color with many vivid illustrations, the recently-published manual focuses on three specific areas of concern for kosher certifiers, kosher food retailers and service facilities: technology, practicalities and methodologies of kosher supervision, and the official rulings of OU halachic authorities. Topics include refinement, fractionation, and deodorization of oil. Rabbi Moshe Zywica, the OU’s Director of Operations, helped coordinate the manual. He calls it “required reading for anyone supervising or certifying an oil agency, and the first manual of its kind to explain the issues involved with ensuring the oil used in cooking and baking is completely kosher.” In addition to Rabbi Zywica, those who worked on the manual are Rabbi Yaacov Luban, the OU’s executive rabbinic coordinator, who served as the editor; Dr. Avraham Meyer, who has a PhD in chemistry and who Rabbi Luban calls “a walking encyclopedia of technology and kashrus,” who served as an advisor for the text; Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, an OU Rabbinic Coordinator who oversees the oil industry; and Rabbi Avraham Juravel, an OU Rabbinic Coordinator who reviewed the entire manual before its publishing. To obtain copies of the manual, contact yoels@ou.org.

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