Kosher tax

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The "Kosher tax" is a canard or urban legend spread by anti-Semitic, white supremacist and right wing extremist organizations such as the National Alliance and Ku Klux Klan.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] It refers to the claim that food producers must pay an exorbitant amount to obtain the right to display a symbol on their products (usually a K or U in a circle) that indicates it is kosher or pareve, and that this cost is passed on to consumers through higher prices which constitute a “kosher tax”. Additional false claims are made that this “tax” is used to support Zionist causes or Israel.^[2]

The actual cost to the consumer is miniscule;^[1]^[9] in 1975 the cost per item for obtaining kosher certification was estimated by The New York Times as being 6.5 millionths (0.0000065) of a cent per item for a typical product.^[3] This is more than offset by the advantages of being certified.^[1] Certification leads to increased revenues of sales by opening up the additional markets such as Jews who keep kosher; Muslims who keep halal; and vegans, Seventh-day Adventists, and the lactose intolerant who wish to avoid dairy products (products that are certified as pareve may meet this criterion).^[3]^[4]^[10] According to Berel Wein, “The cost of kashrut certification is always viewed as an advertising expense and not as a manufacturing expense.”^[6] Dispellers of the “kosher tax” legend argue that if it were not profitable to obtain such certification, then food producers would not engage in the certification process, and that the increased sales resulting from kosher certification actually lower the overall cost per item.^[10]^[11]

Obtaining certification that an item is kosher is a voluntary business decision made by companies desiring additional sales from consumers (both Jewish and non-Jewish) who look for kosher certification when shopping,^[4] and is actually specifically sought by marketing organizations within food production companies.^[10] The fees charged for kosher certification are used to support the operation of the certifying bodies themselves, and not Zionist causes or Israel.^[2]

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Brunvand, Jan Harold [June 2001] (November 2002). “The Jewish Secret Tax”, Encyclopedia of urban legends, Reprint, New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 222–223. LCCN 2001-000883 ISBN 0393323587.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mikkelson, Barbara (May 24, 2002). The Kosher Nostra. Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c The "Kosher Tax" Hoax: Anti-Semitic Recipe for Hate. Anti-Defamation League (January 1991). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c Luban, Yaakov. The "Kosher Tax" Fraud. Orthodox Union. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
^ Kaplan, Jeffery, Leonard Weinberg (February 1999). The emergence of a Euro-American radical right. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 163. LCCN 98-23536 ISBN 0813525632.
^ ^a ^b Wein, Berel, "The problem with Shinui", Jerusalem Post, December 27, 2002, pp. 8B. Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
^ Sullum, Jacob (July 1993). "Kosher Cops". The Freeman 43 (7). Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
^ Lungen, Paul, "Jewish, Muslim groups join forces join to protect ritual slaughter", Internet edition, Canadian Jewish News, February 20, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-10-24. “Anti-Semites have advanced ‘the libel of the kosher tax’ to claim consumers are paying an extra tax on products that carry kosher certification.”
^ Wein, Berel, "The problem with Shinui", Jerusalem Post, December 27, 2002, pp. 8B. Retrieved on 2006-10-24. “...due to the volume of goods produced, the cost of certification per unit is so small that it really does not figure in the cost of the product.”
^ ^a ^b ^c Dispelling a rumor - there is no kosher tax or Jewish tax. Boycott Watch (December 22, 2003). Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
^ Sullum, Jacob (July 1993). "Kosher Cops". The Freeman, 43 (7). Retrieved on 2006- 10-24 "For those who don’t buy Jewish-conspiracy theories, a more plausible explanation is that the companies have calculated that the extra business generated by kashrut certification more than makes up for the cost of supervision. (Hence no price increase is necessary.)"