CHANTAL ABITBOL

A government review into food label is likely to include kashrut in its focus.

KASHRUT authorities have “cautiously welcomed” a federal government-sponsored review of kosher labelling.

Currently being conducted by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the review is part of a sweeping evaluation of food labelling laws sparked by consumer concerns over inaccurate and inconsistent food labels.

A recently released issues paper by the COAG committee stated that there is “consumer desire for clarification of the terms”, including “kosher”.

Starting this week, the committee will kick off its consultation process, inviting submissions and conducting public meetings in capital cities across Australia and New Zealand until May 7. A final report is expected by early December.

Kashrut authorities were this week tentatively optimistic about the review.
Read the full story

Kosher food. Photo: AJN file

DALIA SABLE

KOSHER consumers will be able to tuck into a whole feast of information when Kosher Australia releases its Food Guide 2010.

Featuring hundreds of new products, the booklet includes an extensive list of locally produced, kosher-certified and mehadrin -– the most stringent level of kosher supervision -– items.

For the first time, and in an attempt to make keeping kosher easier, the Melbourne-based kashrut authority has also created sections on setting up a kosher kitchen, separating challah when baking the loaves and how to make crockery kosher, including tips on tovelling (kashering) dishes in a specific mikvah.

The guide also includes advice on how to adequately check fruit, vegetables and eggs for blemishes or deficiencies that may render them treif.

A list of blessings appropriate for each food type and an updated travellers’ guide for the rest of Australia and for South-East Asia also features in the new booklet.
Read the full story

Showcasing kosher food. Photo: AJN file

AJN STAFF

KOSHER foodies will have the opportunity to sample the latest products and innovations later this month.

Eskal KosherFest Australia 2010, Australian kashrut’s trade fair, will take place on Sunday, February 14 at St Kilda Town Hall, with organisers expecting around 5000 people to pass through the doors.

The exhibitors will include Australian manufacturers, importers and retailers of kosher foods and beverages.

Josh Bartak, head of the exhibition’s organising committee, said the event allows those in the industry to use their stands to demonstrate and explain the development of a particular product or company.

“KosherFest gives manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers of kosher products the opportunity to showcase their goods in a fun, family-friendly environment.”

Organisers have added rides to entertain children, while parents and grandparents can enjoy food samples and live cooking demonstrations, Bartak said.

Organisers are emphasising the broad appeal of kosher products beyond the Jewish community, and quote figures from the Israel Trade Commission showing that the potential market for kosher foods in Australia is more than one million people.

Kosher products have attracted interest from Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist communities, as well as vegetarians, vegans and those with special dietary needs.

“This year, there is also a cheese and wine bar for consumers to rest and kibitz [chat],” Bartak said.

Among a diverse spread of 27 exhibitors this year are Fisher & Paykel, Yumi’s, Coles, the City of Port Phillip and health foods retailer Bodhi Kitchen.

KosherFest will be held at St Kilda Town Hall on Sunday, February 14, 10am-6pm.

Last year’s Kosher Theatresports winners … (from left) Heather Brandon, Dave Bloustien and Matt Foster. Photo: Stephen Reichardt

CHANTAL ABITBOL

START with a Shabbat dinner skit performed in the style of a Shakespearean play. Quickly cut to a scene depicting a spoof operatic bat mitzvah. Then switch gears again to hear a love-song send-up between a liberal and a Chassid.

Anything is possible when it comes to Kosher Theatresports (KTS), Sydney’s long-running Jewish comedy improvisational game show that is set to return to Bondi Pavilion Theatre on Sunday, December 6.

Under such irreverent monikers as “Shmux in Tux” and “Red Hot Chilli Shleppers”, teams of comic actors compete, creating impromptu poems, songs, plays and stories – all inspired by audience suggestions and flaunting their own unique brand of shtick.

But it’s not about winning, says returning champion and comedy writer for Good News Week Dave Bloustien.
Read the full story

DALIA SABLE

PACKED with high-quality, organic ingredients, the newly kosher range of R W Garcia Tortilla Chips tastes just the way traditional corn chips should.

Approved by the Orthodox Union, the range is certified dairy. Available in thin white maize, blue maize, flaxseed with soya, veggie, and thai sweet and spicy, each packet contains organic, stone-ground corn combined with organic sea salt, vegetable powders and sunflower oil.

The chips contain no cholesterol or fatty acids and only minimal quantities of sodium.

They are free of gluten and trans fat, yet contain dietary fibre and protein. Available from health-food shops, kosher retailers and selected supermarkets, R.W. Garcia Tortilla Chips are great on their own, or with a favourite dip or salsa.

Inquiries: Real Food Distributors (03) 9338 4766.

DALIA SABLE

WITH a “unique, distinctive, homemade freshness and quality”, Blue Bay soft cheeses, probiotic drinks and yoghurts are now available for kosher consumers.

Made from high-quality, Mornington Peninsula pastures, a range of the company’s dairy products have been certified by Kosher Australia.

In Blue Bay’s range of cheeses, the breakfast cheese, Blue Bay Brinza, marinated cow’s and goat’s fetta, goat’s chevre, ricotta and quark -– a soft, white cheese -– have all been certified. Yoghurts and other similar products with certification include buffalo yoghurt, goat and cow kefir and smetana, or light sour cream.
Read the full story

DALIA SABLE

AS the weather hots up, a cold snack is needed to bring down the temperature, and Igloo Zoo’s super-chilled yoghurt is just the snack.

Available in original, green tea and pomegranate flavours, the yoghurts have been certified kosher just in time for the warmer weather.

All natural and Australian-made, the yoghurts are 99.5 per cent fat free. They also contain live cultures, widely believed to reduce gastrointestinal infections, boost the body’s immune system, fight certain types of cancer and prevent osteoporosis.

Moreover, the live cultures found in the yoghurt break down the lactose found in milk, allowing many lactose-intolerant individuals, who usually experience gastrointestinal discomfort when consuming milk products, to eat yoghurt without the nasty side-effects.
Read the full story

YOSSI ARON

THE AJN featured a discussion last week about the catering arrangements at functions for organisations related to Israel or the Jewish community.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, such functions are not always kosher catered -– a matter which, from the perspective of the rabbinate and the observant community, clearly requires redress.
Read the full story

Rabbi Dovid Freilich … call for kosher functions. Photo: AJN file

NAOMI LEVIN

AUSTRALIA’S pre-eminent body of rabbis is encouraging all Jewish organisations to provide kosher catering so as to avoid embarrassing those who observe Jewish dietary requirements.

The Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia (ORA) has drafted a statement “respectfully” appealing to the community to provide only-kosher food at functions.

The request follows complaints by rabbis that an Australia Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE) lunch scheduled for early December was only offering “kosher by request”.

Albert Dadon, founder and chairman of AICE, called the matter a “storm in a tea cup”.

“Our function on December 3 is a corporate and not a communal function,” Dadon told The AJN from Israel.
Read the full story

Kosher meat in a butcher’s shop. Photo: AJN file

PETER KOHN

ACCORDING to media reports, the findings of a review into ritual slaughter, which have been leaked, will allow shechitah to continue, even though Australian standards require that animals be electrically stunned immediately after ritual killing.

Shechitah, or Jewish ritual slaughter, has historically been asserted as the most humane method of killing animals for food.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) made this claim in its submissions to the review, initiated by the former government in 2007.

Despite the findings, the ECAJ argued in its submission that shechitah, which involves slitting an animal’s throat, minimises the animal’s pain before death and there is no proof that electric stunning reduces any pain felt.
Read the full story