Kosher yogurt must comply with Jewish dietary laws, meaning all ingredients and equipment used must be from kosher sources and never used for non-kosher foods. A rabbi inspects the process for certification, and thickeners, stabilizers, and live cultures must come from kosher sources. It can be difficult to find in stores.
Kosher yogurt differs from other yogurts only in that the yogurt making process complies with Jewish dietary laws. These laws are a set of dietary restrictions followed by many people of the Jewish faith. Although the main ingredient in yogurt, milk, is kosher as long as it comes from a kosher animal, such as a cow, goat, or sheep, the cultures used to turn this milk into yogurt and the additives used to give it texture are often derived from from non-kosher sources. Kosher yogurt must also be processed on equipment that is never used for non-kosher foods.
For yogurt to receive kosher certification, a rabbi must inspect the ingredients and processes used. The rabbi does not make the yogurt kosher but only confirms that no non-kosher ingredients were used and that the equipment used was not used to process non-kosher food. There are a few different organizations that offer kosher certification, and each may follow slightly different procedures when evaluating the kosher status of a food like yogurt.
Yogurt contains a number of different ingredients, which must be screened for compliance with kosher rules before it can be considered kosher yogurt. The live culture used to make milk into yogurt must be grown using nutrients taken from kosher sources for the resulting yogurt to be considered kosher. The cream used to add to the fat content of yogurt must be separated from the milk using a method other than processing whey cream, and the non-fat dry milk added to reduce the fat content of yogurt cannot be dried in the same texture of non-kosher meats or cheeses. Any thickeners or stabilizers used in yogurt, such as gelatin, must be harvested from kosher animal or plant sources.
Additionally, kosher yogurt must be made on equipment used only for kosher foods during all parts of the process. Bacteria grown to add live cultures to milk should be grown in containers that are used only for kosher fed bacteria, and yogurt should be grown in tanks that are used only for kosher yogurt. If fruit is added to yogurt, it must also be processed on equipment not used for non-kosher foods. The difficulty of following kosher practices during the yogurt making process often makes this yogurt difficult to find in stores, although there are some brands that do follow kosher practices.
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