Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Real Life Level Fiver!

So, I'm back in the kitchen when I overhear a conversation at the counter between Michelle and a male customer, 20-something, wearing a white knit beanie with what appears to be Hebrew lettering around the edge.

Customer: "What kind of soymilk do you have?"

Michelle: "Silk Unsweetened Organic."

Customer: "I don't drink Silk - it isn't really vegan. It's not Kosher vegan."

My ears prick up - I've been calling myself a "wannabe vegan" for almost a year now, because I've pretty much eliminated dairy and eggs in my home cooking. And I *LOVE* Silk brand soymilk products (I look forward to Silk Nog all year - I can attribute any extra holiday weight gain to that stuff, I tell ya.)

The customer proceeds to explain that Kosher restrictions are so much more rigorous than any other food standards, and that because the Silk has a "D" next to the Kosher symbol, there is a possibility that some dairy is allowed in the product. He said, "It might be one one-hundredth of a percent. I'd just rather not chance it."

I am really curious about that guy's hat. I hope it says "Level Five Vegan" in Hebrew, I really do...




p.s. My hubby went to the Silk website for me, and they claim that their products *are* vegan. After also perusing the kosher guideline descriptions, our theory is that perhaps one of the ingredients Silk uses is manufactured in a facility that also processes dairy. Even if the machinery is washed in between, that earns a "D" on the Kosher scale...

4 comments:

  1. Well not really if it is manufactured on equipment that was washed in between dairy uses it will have a DE on it which stands for Dairy Equipment.

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  2. @David,

    This is from: http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/ou_symbols/

    An ‘OU-D’ symbol indicates:
    The product is a Kosher dairy product (but not necessarily Kosher for Passover),
    The product contains a dairy ingredient or a dairy derivative.
    Alternatively, the product, while not containing dairy ingredients itself, was made on equipment also used for making dairy products.
    Kosher laws do not permit a dairy food to eaten or cooked with meat or with foods made with meat ingredients.

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