No less impressive is the in-house professional support structure guaranteeing that the OU provides the most current and accurate data and industry-leading service excellence. The OU maintains the world’s largest kosher information database with tens of thousands of entries—chemical compounds, intermediary ingredients, products sorted by brand and type—all at the kosher professionals’ fingertips. Through the state-of-the-art OU Direct system, companies have on-line access to kosher “letters of certification”, ingredient and product schedules and the ability to update and review information any time of the day or night. Additionally, certified products are listed on the Universal Kosher Database creating a virtual kosher marketplace. The OU staffs’ expertise in Jewish law and food technology ensures that questions are answered in a timely manner. No other kosher agency in the world has such a comprehensive infrastructure, and it is why all others are measured against the OU.
7 www.oupassover.org
The real unsung heroes of OU Kosher are the hundreds of Rabbinic Field Representatives (RFRs) who travel the world monitoring the OU’s kosher programs onsite. Often spending weeks away from home (sometimes including Shabbat and holidays) these dedicated professionals crisscross the globe—auditing certified plants, evaluating new facilities, and performing the nuts and bolts work of kosher supervision. It is they who are called on when equipment needs kashering or when a company needs approval of a new source of supply. Without them, there would be no OU Kosher.
OU Kosher works—first and foremost—for the Jewish community. It is not a private business; no individual owns it, no individuals profit from it. A not-for-profit in the classic sense of the word, the money generated from the license of the symbol returns to the community at large in the form of the OU’s vital programming. The “OU” is much more than a symbol of kosher certification—it attests to the vitality of the Jewish community.