Is Florajen Probiotic Kosher? Definitely Not Under the OK

by CrownHeights.info

Florajen Probiotics, a common brand of probiotics found across the country, brands itself Kosher, but is it?

The OK Kosher organization published an alert Monday warning that they do not certify Florajen probiotics and corrective actions are underway to correct the misuse of the OK symbol.

“Various Florajen probiotics products bear an unauthorized OK Kosher symbol. This company and their products are not certified by OK Kosher Certification,” the alert said.

Yet while the OK goes out to claim misuse of their trademarked OK symbol, they don’t actually go so far as to say that it is not Kosher.

On Florajen’s website, a commonly asked question asks if their products are kosher, to which they answer yes, under the Ko Kosher Certification.

What is Ko Kosher Certification? and is it reliable? A quick search online finds the truth behind the Ko Kosher.

In 2020, Esther Fleming writing for SmartBio warned people about the hechsher. “Be aware that the hashgacha symbol of a capital K and a small o, i.e. – “Ko” in a square, represents a hashgacha with a website that seems very frum, but the head of it has been the rabbi of a “conservative” congregation for decades.”

Other Forum groups also warned of serious leniencies used by the Hashgacha, such as their use of the concept that once a food passes through a period when it is no longer edible, it loses its unkosher status. The Ko uses this leniency, according to the forum members, to give kosher certification to Gelatin, even if it is derived from pigs.

A look at the “Hasgacha’s” website is even more telling. Written as a professional Hasgacha site, the slogan “No politics, Halacha is Halacha” sits directly below a stock photo showing untznius people.

So is Florajen kosher? With 100% certainty, we can say it’s definitely not kosher certified under the OK.