Companies drop kosher symbol
IT has been revealed this week that a number of companies have decided to remove symbols certifying their products as kosher from their packaging.
According to the general manager of Victorian kashrut certification authority Kosher Australia Yankel Wajsbort, the decisions have been taken following concerns voiced over halal certification.
Wajsbort told The AJN “A few companies have called us and said that they have had some aggressive calls in relation to halal and as a result they thought it was safer not to have any religious certification or affiliation in the interim,” Wajsbort said.
It comes amid claims that money raised from halal certification helps fund terrorism even though the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and the Australian Crime Commission both deny there is any evidence to substantiate such allegations.
Just last week, the right-wing Reclaim Australia, which calls for halal certification to be “banned and made illegal” staged rallies across the country.
“In the last three months we have probably received 10 requests from companies that say they support kosher and want to stay kosher but how do they argue that it’s different to halal,” Wajsbort said. “Of those 10, we have had four or five companies that have asked to remove our symbol.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot voiced his concern over companies dropping the symbol.
“The decision by some companies to display kosher or halal symbols on their packaging is generally a commercial choice to accommodate observant Jewish and Muslim consumers by informing them that the product does not breach their dietary laws,” he said.
“If some companies now choose to withdraw the symbols from their packaging it will inevitably alienate Jewish and Muslim consumers who rely on the symbols to know which brands and products they can consume.
“If it is true that some companies have decided that the broader market will reject their products simply because they also cater to Jewish or Muslim consumers, that is a deeply troubling development and a commentary on the state of religious tolerance in this country at the present time.”
For a complete list of kosher products consumers can download the Kosher Australia app in Melbourne and the Kashrut Authority app in Sydney.
JOSHUA LEVI
The Kosher Australia logo that is being removed from some products.
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