Kosher Questions: What's in a Loaf of Bread?

Rabbi Yosef Zaritsky is a world-renowned expert in kashrut. One of his main areas of focus is raising awareness of kashrut issues even in seemingly simple food products.

Just a Loaf of Bread?

Take bread, for instance. What's in a loaf of bread?

If you bake it yourself, you know exactly what's in it — just a few ingredients which don't seem problematic at all. But most people buy their bread and are unaware that it can contain literally hundreds of ingredients.

Many of these additions to basic bread ingredients are designed to extend the product's shelf life. And many of these additions are not kosher at all. Some are added in such tiny amounts that they don't have to be listed among the ingredients. Depending on what that additive is, it could still be highly problematic from a kosher standpoint, which is why it's vital to only buy bread with reliable kosher certification.

Then, there are the "ingredients" that shouldn't be there at all. Bugs.

Kosher Really Does Mean Clean!

"The flour used in baked goods starts life as wheat kernels," Rabbi Zaritsky explains. "Wheat is ground in huge quantities and the flour is packed into huge sacks. Factories and artisanal bakeries alike use industrially produced flour in their products and it may have been ground long before it is used, giving insects plenty of time to infiltrate the sacks and multiply.

"This is why the first thing that a rigorous kosher certification company will require of a factory or bakery is sifting the flour through a very fine-mesh sieve."

In many factories, there's an additional consideration, because they may transfer tons of flour from the milling area to the baking area via long pipes. "If those pipes aren't cleaned on a daily basis, they become home to all kinds of insects, including cockroaches," Rabbi Zaritsky stresses.

"Therefore, a kosher bakery means first and foremost a clean bakery, and kosher baked goods means flour that has been sifted. The higher the level of kashrut, the higher the standard of cleanliness will be."

(Photo: shutterstock)

Where's the Oil From?

Another potential issue with commercial baked goods is the oil used in the production process. Oils are sourced from all over the world, and most refineries process many types of oil, both from kosher and non-kosher sources. Even if the oil is labeled of vegetable origin, there are multiple occasions throughout its life when it could have been cross-contaminated with animal oils. Therefore, oil must always have good kosher certification.

This consideration applies to margarine as well, as animal fats (and particularly pork lard) are sometimes used to emulsify the oil with the water in order to make margarine. These emulsifiers may be labeled "mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids" and while that sounds like a chemical formulation, it could just mean pork fat derivatives.

Pasta Problems

What about flour products that don't contain fats of any kind, such as pasta? "There are several potential issues even with pasta," Rabbi Zaritsky says. "Even though pasta is 'just flour and water,' it is often fortified with vitamins and other additives to improve its nutritional content. These additives might be non-kosher, or they could be dairy, which is obviously important to know if you want to use it with meat.

"You also need to be aware of how such foods are processed," he adds. "Pasta and other similar products undergo a drying process in special ovens where other products that aren't kosher at all are also processed. Due to the temperatures involved, and the lack of sufficient cleaning, even if something goes into such an oven kosher comes out non-kosher.

"For example, yesterday they might have dried ravioli with meat filling in the oven, and then today, in the same oven, they dried ravioli with dairy filling, or even plain spaghetti."

In summary, even when it seems simple, it's really not so simple — which is why kosher certification is so necessary.