Seasonal Holiday Shopping. After decades of doing this, a pattern has emerged. Wife gets eight gifts, each of three children four. To make shopping smoother, particularly for my wife, I've created categories. Each person gets an edible. It must be in a box that can be wrapped and mailed, though I have wrapped circular jars. And it must be Kosher. While the kids may have departed from this, any food that I give must be acceptable to me.
Gift treats come in a lot of forms. Candy, jellies, sauces, coffee, tea, pastries with long shelf life. National brands, those from the mega corporations, invariably carry a Kosher certification with a symbol that I recognize. Smaller producers are less consistent, but kosher options are readily available, though less so this year and perhaps last.
My usual source has been Marshall's which buys overruns and a nearby farmer's market. Marshall's across from an even larger Costco has an enormous seasonal selection. I have found many products where I used to expect that Kosher mark no longer have one. Truly seasonal items like those potpourri of sweets in big container rarely do. Neither do the regional hot sauces or some of the specialty candies that appear only for the Christmas season. But what I have found this shopping interval has been the absence of certification from many items I had purchased in prior years. If it is manufactured in Turkey, the Kosher ID has disappeared in the last year or two. Belgian chocolates or other sweets sourced in Europe no longer carry an imprint on their box. Italian edibles, once a sure thing, have become inconsistent. The Far Eastern seasonal items no longer seem to carry certification. However, for year-round dietary staples, the Rabbi from the Orthodox Union still travels far and wide to inspect facilities. Down Under maintains their certifications, often regional to New Zealand and Australia. While there aren't specific African products, they would not be able to sell their chocolate, vanilla, or related commodities to the international conglomerates without attention to Kosher.
So why the paucity? Over the years, from international sources, I've noticed that products that have Arabic ingredient lists often do not have the certification that the same product from the same manufacturer would have with English ingredient lists. I often encounter those products in Dollar Stores. But more recent decisions by the manufacturers to forgo a Rabbi's approval seems more questionable. I understand smaller producers not wanting to pay inspection fees that international conglomerates would judge nominal, particularly when the Kosher market for those products is small. The disappearance of what was from the European sweets strikes me as perhaps more a political statement.
As I shopped, Marshall's had Baklava, Halvah, and Turkish Delight. Jews happen to like these, as they are sweet and usually dairy-free. I had never seen Halvah that was not Kosher before. All products of Turkey or Greece, some of which I've purchased as gifts in previous years. Same with the Belgian chocolates. Shells or shapes usually makes a suitable gift for somebody on my list. Always been kosher until this year.
Perhaps I am too cynical. Mass manufacturing processes change as factories become automated. Maybe the production requires oils or greases or preservatives of animal sources. But the regional nature of what used to announce itself as Kosher but no longer does, makes me wonder if this is one more global anti-Semitic expression. Don't sell to observant Jews who are nearly all Zionists. Or don't antagonize a much larger Anti-Zionist market throughout Europe, the Middle East, and beyond.
Perhaps somebody knows for sure if Kosher has been politically weaponized.
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