K A S H R U T . C O M_©

ONLINE SHOPPING: When shopping online for grocery delivery or curbside pickup, be sure to check the actual label on each item when the order is received. This is essential because many online descriptions or pictures give inaccurate or outdated information regarding the product’s Kosher status. In addition, the store may substitute non-Kosher or non-approved products if the requested item is not available.

One recent example: Kroger Hearty Vegetable Ready To Serve Soup in an 18.8 oz. can is still pictured online with an OU symbol, but the actual product does not bear an OU. In fact, this product lost its Kosher status over a year ago, but the picture has not been updated.

Clarification for Online Shopping: While consumers increasingly turn to online vendors for food shopping, please note that internet statements and images are NOT always reliable to confer kosher status. To confirm that a product is certified please contact OU Kosher at oukosher.org, kosherq@ou.org, 212-613-8241 or download the OU Kosher app at ou.org/apps. Certified products must physically bear the OU symbol on the label.

Many people nowadays are utilizing various food delivery services, for both packaged products and prepared foods. Consumers who order food products using outside vendors (e.g. Instacart, UberEats) or a store’s own delivery service, should be aware of the following:

• Outside vendors may not be sensitive to kosher requirements, and might innocently substitute a non-kosher item for the kosher one which you ordered. Thus, you might order Brand X of canned vegetables knowing that it is certified kosher, but if that brand is not available, the store may substitute it with canned vegetables from Brand Y which lacks supervision. Therefore, when a delivery arrives, be sure to check each product to be sure it is kosher.
• The certification of a food item is only valid if it is stored in a sealed package. This is true of packaged foods and also for foods prepared in a restaurant. If the packaging is open, or if prepared food is delivered without “kosher tape” or some other seal, the product should not be accepted as kosher. Return the food to the store and/or speak to your Rabbi for guidance.

• WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE for grocery delivery or curbside pickup, be sure to check the actual label on each item when the order is received. This is essential because:
• Many online descriptions or pictures give inaccurate or outdated information regarding the product’s Kosher status.
• The store may substitute non-Kosher or non-approved products if the requested ones are not available.
• Following are two recent examples:
  • When a search for EMPIRE KOSHER CHICKEN at Costco yielded no results, an online grocery delivery service company website offered, as a “related result”, a non-Kosher brand of chicken [Foster Farms] as “Kosher”.
  • SIMPLE TRUTH ORGANIC CANNED DICED TOMATOES IN TOMATO JUICE is pictured on the Kroger website with an OU. After pickup, a shopper found that some cans bear an OU, and other cans bear a different, non-approved symbol.
• ALSO BE AWARE that due to the pandemic, some manufacturing plants are unable to obtain sufficient Kosher ingredients (e.g. cheese) for their productions, and some plants are expanding the range of products they make to offset lack of availability from their usual suppliers. As a result, some products will lose their Kosher certification, and some products will change from pareve to dairy. Every product label must be carefully checked for its proper status.