If you’re a natural food manufacturer or you’re newly looking for Kosher certification as part of eating healthy, you might assume fruit is as complex as any other food in terms of Kosher certification. The truth is, it’s a simpler food to certify as Kosher. In fact, you’ll notice many brands of Kosher frozen fruit next time you’re shopping.
When fruits and vegetables are harvested and minimally processed (washed and frozen for example) they are generally recognized as Kosher. They don’t need the same level of supervision you would expect from a meat or dairy processing facility (for example). Because of that, Kosher certification is relatively straightforward.
There are different rules for produce grown inside Israel, but generally we just need to verify that certain standards are in place on the farm/processing facility.
We still follow our seven step process for Kosher certification, but given that many Kosher frozen foods only contain one ingredient (pitaya or pineapple for example), the process is quick and easy. In the event that additives are used, we review these ingredients for Kosher compliance.
Certain produce is subject to concerns of insect infestation (such as strawberries and raspberries) and these would – as the exception – be either difficult or not feasible for Kosher Certification. In cases where it is determined to be feasible, special attention would be paid to how the produce is cleaned at the processing facility and may even involve testing samples at our lab.
Two Kosher certified companies we’ve featured in the past are Wyman’s and Pitaya Foods; both of which offer frozen fruit. They can both attest to how straightforward and simple Kosher certification of frozen foods can be.
