What is Kosher, or Glatt Kosher?
Question: What is Kosher Food?
Answer: Kosher food is food prepared in accordance with Jewish Dietary Laws.
In their most “biblical” form, Jewish Dietary Laws state:
Pork, rabbit, eagle, owl, catfish, sturgeon, and any shellfish, insect or reptile are non-kosher. Other species of meat and fowl must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner to be kosher. Meat and dairy products may not be made or consumed together.
A kosher food that is processed or cooked together with a non-kosher food, or any derivative of a non-kosher food, becomes non-kosher. For example, food coloring derived from a shellfish and used in a cake makes the cake non-kosher.
While Jewish Dietary Laws originated in the Bible (Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 17), they have been codified and interpreted over the centuries by rabbinical authorities.
Likewise, definitions of kosher have evolved in response to changes in the food industry, the Jewish People, and world culture.
Due to the growing complexity of foodstuffs, the need arose for kosher certifying agencies to determine the kosher status of prepared food. Today kosher certification labels are printed on the packages of kosher food.
As Jews lived in and adopted food traditions from different countries around the world and as different denominations of Judaism developed, Jewish definitions of kosher have become more varied over time. There are different Jewish ethnic cultures, different branches within Judaism, and various Jewish kosher certifying authorities in the United States that certify “kosher” based on rules that vary from liberal to conservative.
Furthermore, in recent times gentiles have become more interested in kosher food. Muslims, who account for 16 percent of the $100 billion-a-year U.S. kosher market, may buy a kosher food product because it fits the Quran’s dietary laws of Halal. And people who are health-conscious may purchase something kosher because they believe it is healthier and safer as a result of the extra supervision. Various religious, cultural, health and quality reasons spark their interest in and color their definitions of kosher.
Question: What is Glatt Kosher?
Answer: The technical definition of glatt kosher is meat from animals with smooth or defect-free lungs, but today the term glatt kosher is often used informally to imply that a product was processed under a stricter standard of kashrut.
Formal Definition
For meat to be kosher, it must come from a kosher animal and be slaughtered in a kosher way. For meat to be glatt kosher, in addition to the two above conditions, the meat must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs.
The word glatt means smooth in Yiddish. In Jewish Law, the term glatt is used to refer to the lungs of animals. After the animal is slaughtered, the animal is opened and examined to determine whether the lungs are smooth. If defects on the lungs are found, the meat is considered treif (torn, mortally injured, non-kosher). If the lungs are found to be defect-free or smooth, the meat is considered to be glatt kosher.
Informal Definition
While the term glatt technically means the lungs of the kosher and kosher-slaughtered animal were smooth, the term is often used colloquially to imply a higher standard of kashrut, similar to the term mehadrin.
Furthermore, even though only meat can be technically glatt kosher, the term is often loosely used today to refer to non-meat items. Many suppliers of glatt kosher items will refer to all their products at glatt kosher. So one may find fish with the same glatt kosher sticker as used on meat being sold one aisle over. In addition, many suppliers of glatt kosher meat will refer to their whole service as glatt kosher. So there are glatt kosher caterers, restaurants and stores.
Above information about Kosher Food from http://kosherfood.about.com
