If you are allergic to dairy or shellfish one tool that you can use to help you eat safely is to look for the Kosher label. My college roommate was a conservative Jew who taught me how to look for the Orthodox Union or OU certification on foods (it is a U in a circle) because that way we could have say one container of coffee or chocolate syrup. Later I learned about other competing koshering agencies (Star-K, CRC, and Circle K are other big ones) and how to find the logo on food labels and what they meant.
As a Catholic I largely ignored kosher certification, until I started having food issue and realizing that I needed to pay attention. Kosher, and kosher for passover food, is a real blessing for those with certain allergies.
Kosher does not mean that a food is somehow blessed. It means that it has passed an inspection by a mashgiach (an observant Jew who is an expert in koshering rules) to ensure that the food meets certain standards. So the koshering agency checks, for real, to make sure that the product is made on clean and appropriate equipment. So if something says Kosher Parve that means that all the processes and procedures were checked to ensure that there is no dairy in the product, if there is a trace amount of dairy due to potential cross contamination a disclaimer “may contain traces of dairy” should appear on the product. However, what is truly useful is that if it has a D next to the certification then there is definitely dairy in the product. Having put back too many “veggie” cheeses after realizing that they did indeed sneak in dairy (do these manufacturers not know their customers?), I learned to look for the D that indicates that yes indeed dairy is an ingredient.
Kosher for Passover is a separate topic. Suffice it to say that I now love Passover.
The impressive thing is that the mashgiach really does travel around and check the harvest, check the plant, checks the cleaning processes and follows up to ensure that the entire process is indeed kosher and free of contamination. And as sad as this seems, I often trust the mashgiach more than I trust the FDA or the food manufacturer.
Another way that kosher certification can be helpful is for anyone with a shellfish allergy. I have a cousin with a life threatening shellfish allergy, Most people with such allergies avoid fish because of the potential for cross contamination. That said, you may be able to eat fish from a reliable kosher fishmonger. A kosher fishmonger takes delivery of fish whole. You need the entire shop to be kosher, but a certified kosher fish shop will deal only with fish that arrive whole and which are then skinned, filleted etc, in a shellfish free environment. Is this enough to guarantee 100% safety? No, it isn’t. But it is about as safe as it gets and the fishmonger who runs it is likely to be very helpful to you.
Only you can determine what is safe and appropriate for you, but when you are trying to find something that works for you, keep kosher certification in mind. It can find the hidden dairy, and help you choose wisely.
