Finding a Kosher collagen is becoming hard and hard these days. With so many religious regulations on the line, like permitted animals, slaughtering, processing, and storing, there are very high chances of mistakes. Plus, the difference between normal days & Passover rules, makes the task of making collagen kosher for the Jewish community nearly impossible. If you are interested in finding out more about kosher rules and how to choose the permitted collagen, read on!
Figure no 1 Kosher-certified collagen for human body collagen production
➔ Checklist
1.What is meant by Collagen being kosher or not?
2.Kosher restrictions from Jewish Torah and modern interpretations?
3.What are the health benefits of kosher collagen?
4.How do we determine if the collagen is kosher or not?
1) What is meant by Collagen being kosher or not?
“Jewish people have very restrictive laws on how to prepare, process, and inspect the food - these laws are called kosher. And the collagen made by following these kosher laws is called Kosher Collagen.”
If you are wondering what the is Torah, let me tell you it is a holy religious book of Jewish people which dates back to 539 ~ 333 BCE ( same as BC ). The kosher laws written in Torah are the same but their interpretation has been updated according to the modern world.
2) Kosher restrictions from Jewish Torah and modern interpretations?
In Jewish kosher laws, there are 3-categories of permitted foods;
i) Kosher Meat
ii) Kosher Dairy
iii) Kosher Pareve
i) Kosher Meat
According to Jewish kosher laws, meat is only permitted if the animal follows 2-conditions;
• The animal must have split hoves like cows, goats, etc.
• They must chew their cud ( pigs don’t chew their cuds )
If you don’t know what is cud, then let us learn that some animals eat their food, it goes to the abdomen and gets back to their mouth for again chewing on it - cows are the most common example which all of us have seen.
Figure no 2.1 Animals included in Kosher meat category
Some minorities believe that if the animal parts are processed for too long it becomes a new item which then moves from meat to the Pareve category making it completely permitted - making collagen from all animals, including pigs permitted. However, this concept is not widely accepted. So,
“Animal kosher collagen can only be made from animal parts which is permitted in kosher laws.”
Plus, they also have to be processed according to kosher rules and regulations. So, collagen manufacturers around the world make animal kosher collagen only from cow, goat, or sheep hides because hides are easier to recognize than bones and cartilage. But as you have noticed that bovine collagen kosher has a higher price tag than all other types of collagen, it is because the labor and expense go into finding, ordering, and separating animal hides is much higher than collagen made from any animal species and their parts.
ii) Kosher Dairy
The products derived from animals, such as milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, etc., all belong to this category and for them to be kosher, they must be derived only from animals allowed in kosher laws.
Figure no 2.2 Products permitted in Kosher dairy
Collagen can’t be made from dairy products, however, it is important to mention here that additional flavors & supplements added to collagen that are derived from dairy must also obey kosher laws.
iii) Kosher Pareve
Figure no 2.3 Wide category of permitted items in Kosher Pareve category
“Pareve is a wide category which includes everything else besides animal and their dairy products, such as plants, fish, eggs, fruits, pasta, etc.”
According to Jewish Kosher laws, both fish and plant-based collagen are allowed. When it comes to plant kosher collagen , there are not many restrictions about the species and processing conditions, and as you know plants are easily available so vegan kosher collagen is much cheaper than animal kosher collagen. Plus, animals contain a lot more human diseases than plants so vegan collagen is a much safer option.
In contrast, when it comes to fish, all there is in kosher law is that it must have found and scales besides that it can be of any species and there are no specific laws about its slaughtering. So, fish collagen kosher is another cheaper option than animal-based collagen.
Moreover, there is a kosher law that states milk and meat products can’t be eaten at the same time as well as can’t be put, processed, or eaten in the same utensils. This law makes stuff a lot more complicated. However, as fish belongs to the Pareve category, milk is allowed with it.
It is important to note that fish and vegan kosher collagen are not as famous as animal kosher collagen because people believe they have less potency and benefits. Plus, fish cause many allergies to some people which makes its market value a lot less.
3) What are the health benefits of kosher collagen?
It goes without saying that Kosher collagen has the same benefits as standard collagen - Jewish people don’t make kosher collagen due to more health benefits but because their religion says so. However, as kosher laws are very strict there are fewer chances of cheap ingredients which eliminates many possibilities of diseases.
Kosher collagen has the following health benefits as normal collagen does, which are;
- Strengthen your bone
- It helps in hair and nail growth
- During injury, collagen helps in fast healing
- Collagen acts as a structural part of muscles
- Helps in forming joints and cartilage and lessens pain
- Makes your skin younger, less saggy, and less wrinkly.
- Forms a protective layer on almost all organs and protects them
- Makes the blood vessels stronger, lessening the chances of heart-related conditions
- And much more.
4) How do we determine if the collagen is kosher or not?
Kosher collagen always has special certified markings on its packing, such as;
i) Check if there is a “K” symbol mentioned on the packing or not - if it is, it means the collagen is made according to kosher laws.
ii) Now, check if there is a “D” or “P” after the Kosher symbol.
➢ If there is a D, it means that the collagen contains dairy items or is being processed by the same equipment as dairy products. Dairy collagen is also permitted but it does have one small restriction it can’t be eaten with meat according to Kosher laws.
➢ If there is a “Pareve/Parve” or “U” symbol after “k”, it means it belongs to the Pareve category ( not meat or dairy) which mostly means collagen is made from fish or plants that are both permitted in kosher.
➢ If there is a “P” after “K”, it states that this collagen is specially made for the Passover event, which has its own set of rules.
➢ If none of the above symbols is mentioned on the packing, it probably means it is not made according to kosher ingredients so don’t buy it if you are Jewish.
Conclusion
Only some manufacturers around the world make collagen according to kosher rules because of its selective market ( Jewish market ) and extra expenses. Furthermore, only a handful of manufacturers properly follow all ingredients list while most of them add flavors & additives which don't classify in kosher allowed items. And we, Yasin, are one of those manufacturers who respect Jewish religious values like our own to make the best kosher collagen without leaving any room for mistakes. Plus, our products are inspected by third-party which you can confirm from certified marking on the packings. So, if you are looking to buy kosher collagen in bulk, we can be the one-stop solution for you.
Post time: Oct-11-2023
