Rabbi, Grocery Promote Kosher Food Awareness

Pocono, PA — Nowadays people who eat kosher don’t have to look farther than the local supermarket.

That’s the message Rabbi Mendel Bendet of Chabad Lubavitch of the Poconos and Weis Markets/Mr. Z’s want to send this week. They’re calling it “A Poconos Week of Kosher Awareness.”

The supermarket chain and Chabad Lubavitch have teamed up to educate people about kosher foods — what they are and where to buy them.

Everyone has heard of kosher food — it is in the international aisle of the supermarket just next to the Mexican and Chinese sections, right? Well, yes … and no. “Kosher” is not the name of an ethnic cuisine. In fact, it is a Hebrew word denoting fitness, and thanks to the food industry’s response to consumers, more and more of the items on the shelves of local supermarkets sport symbols of rabbinical supervision ensuring standards exceeding those required by the FDA.

Sunday and Monday, Bendet set up a table with displays, videos, recipes and delicious kosher treats at Mr. Z’s in Tannersville. Tuesday and today he visited Mr. Z’s in East Stroudsburg, and Thursday he’ll educate the public at Mr. Z’s in Stroudsburg.

Kristy Busch, a Weis Markets associate, said, “We’re trying to let the community know that kosher products are available here. People moving here from out of state are used to shopping at the local grocer. We want them to know they can find kosher food here.”

“Approximately 80 percent of the food sold at Weis stores are kosher,” Bendet said. “Tight supervision goes on in the processing of these products.”

How can people tell if a product is kosher?

Simply look on the label for the kosher symbol — most common are a U in a circle, a K in a circle or a K in a star. Cheerios, French’s mustard, Heinz ketchup, Hellman’s mayonnaise and Lipton tea are just a few of the many grocery items that show a kosher symbol.

“Most people have the conception that keeping kosher is very tedious; but very generic, mainstream products are kosher,” Bendet said.

In addition to displaying an assortment of packaged, processed foods with kosher labels, Bendet and Mr. Z’s are offering shoppers samples of baked goods from Weis Markets’s kosher bakery on Cedar Crest Boulevard, Allentown.

The kosher label assures shoppers that milk and meat have not been mixed together in the processing.

“This is helpful, too, for people who are allergic to dairy,” Busch said. “If they see something is kosher, they know they can trust it.”