The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #77077 Message #1371187
Posted By: GUEST,Nerd, no cookie!
04-Jan-05 - 02:32 PM
Thread Name: BS: WalMartishness goes kosher--in Chicago
Subject: RE: BS: WalMartishness goes kosher--in Chicago
Muslims do not look to Kosher food simply for higher quality. They have their own set of dietary laws which correspond partially with Kosher laws, so buying Kosher is a shortcut where there aren't many Halal places. Martin is right in a sense, in that Halal laws unlike Kosher laws are partly based on health principles, so eating healthier, as long as it didn't violate any other Halal laws, would be seen as a good thing.
There have been recent attempts, by the way, to explain Kosher laws as health laws. But they are wishful thinking (see how much the ancient Jews really understood about health...they knew about trichinosis and mercury poisoning, etc!) In fact, the kosher laws are based on biblical injunctions and the proscribed foods are proscribed for explicit reasons, which have to do not with health but with symbolism and ritual concepts of taboo and pollution, which were very important to early Hebrews.
Nevertheless, as Martin points out, Kosher foods are marketed as higher quality and healthier, and in many cases they are. I recall the old Hebrew national commercials which portrayed Uncle Sam (representing the USDA laws) frowning as the narrator pointed out that Kosher laws were stricter than US laws on additives, fillers and impurities ("we have to answer to a higher authority!")