Kosher has many different levels of what is required to be Kosher. There is Kosher Meat, Kosher Dairy and Kosher Pareve. Kosher meat refers to certain animals which can only be consumed by those keeping a Kosher diet. Kosher animals must have split hooves and chew their cud. Therefore, only a select group of animals are permitted to be consumed. This list includes, sheep, cows and goats. For the most part cows are the main diet kosher consumers partake in. Once the animal is on the kosher approved list, there is an internal check which must be made to the animal. The Rabbi who kills the animal in the quickest possible has to check the internal lung of the animal to make sure there is no lesions on the lung which would mean that the animal is sick and would not live long. If these lesions are found the animal is deemed non-kosher. In order for a bird to be permitted there are a few signs which must be present to make it kosher. The most basic description is that the bird can not be a predator. If it goes after its prey, the bird will not be kosher. The most basic kosher bird is a chicken. Kosher Dairy means that there are milk, butter, cheese and other dairy ingredients in the product. Although some believe that eggs make a product dairy this is in fact not true. If there are of these ingredients in a product then the product will have a Dairy or D symbol next to the kosher agency to tell consumers this is in fact dairy. Many look for the dairy symbol on products since there is another Kosher law which those from the Jewish faith keep. If one eats meat or products containing meat there is waiting period for abut 6 hours which takes place. Therefore, having the dairy symbol next to the product is crucial to make sure one who ate meat is careful not to eat a product containing dairy within 6 hours of each other. Some question why is a waiting period necessary. In fact not only is there a waiting period in place we can not cook dairy and meat together either. For this reason someone from the Jewish who keeps the Kosher dietary laws very seriously, will not consume a Cheese Burger since they are not permitted to cook them together. One of the reasons given by the Rabbis is that in order to meat to be consumed it has to be killed. For dairy products to be consumed the milk is taken from the cow and then consumed. Meat is a representative of death since it requires to be killed before consumption, while milk represents live, as no animal is killed to drink it and we drink milk and give it to our young and they use it to live. Therefore, we do not mix meat and dairy together since, it is mixing life and death together and we keep these two separate. Kosher parve, means that there is no meat or dairy in the ingredients. Parve is the Hebrew word for neutral. When one is pareve the food does not have any restriction and can be eaten together with meat or dairy. Many food companies prefer when they can to produce parve foods to make the items available to more consumers.

Types of Kosher certification:

Kosher law requires that meat and poultry products may not be prepared or eaten with any form of dairy products. There are 4 types of Kosher certification accompanied with the KOF-K symbol on the label of the certified products. 

Kosher Parve (Pareve): Products completely void of all milk & meat in any form 

Kosher Meat: Products containing meat or meat derivatives

Kosher Dairy: Products containing dairy or dairy derivatives

Kosher Passover: Products certified for use on the Jewish holiday of Passover