Opposite page: Left: Beef is prepared for sale at a local kosher butcher shop. Right: Dirty floors frequently make the list of health violations at Zeman's New York Bakery in Oak Park.
This page: Above: A cluttered work station at Zeman's in Oak Park.

or thousands of Jews
in metro Detroit, and
millions around the
world, the word
"kosher" conjures up
rituals intended to
guide the culinary
practices of those who
lead observant lives.
To consumers of all faiths, "kosher"
often connotes something else: quality
and cleanliness. It is a promise that food
has been meticulously inspected and
fastidiously prepared.
According to state and local health in-
spections, kosher does not necessarily
mean cleaner.
A review by the Detroit Jewish News
of hundreds of documents recorded by
state food and health inspectors raises
questions about the sanitation practices
in some retail stores carrying hekshers,
trademark symbols representing su-
pervision by an Orthodox rabbinic coun-
cil.
While the heksher does not translate
to mean cleanliness per se, it does mean
that Jewish law was followed in the
preparation of the food. Jewish law also
finds it unethical for a religiously ob-
servant business owner to endanger an-

other person by offering products that
These reports come as. the American
may be dangerous to his or her health. kosher food industry is undergoing a
To be sure, some kosher businesses growth of seismic proportions. In 1995,
in the area have enviable records for more than 31,000 kosher products flood-
cleanliness. In other shops, roaches and ed the U.S. market— a 30-fold increase
rodents have run roughshod.
in two decades.
With some, state inspectors repeat-
To many, kosher food is thought to be
edly have found fault with the way prepared in a more sanitary fashion
kosher food has been labeled or stored, than treife, or nonkos!er, foods. That
sometimes well beyond its
may explain why roughly
expiration date. State offi-
6 million people — includ-
cials also have found laps-
ing 1,750,000 observant
The se are
es in the hygienic practices
Jews — specifically seek
the first
of some employees who
out kosher food, according
process food served to cus-
to Integrated Marketing
artic
les
in
a
tomers.
and Communications, a
thre e-part
During preannounced
New York City marketing
visits by Detroit Jewish
firm. A 1995 study by the
se ries.
News reporters, several
same firm found that Jews
store employees in kosher
represent 29.2 percent of
retail establishments did not observe the U.S. kosher market, with the re-
even basic sanitary practices. In some mainder made up of vegetarians, Mus-
cases, workers did-not wear hair nets lims, Seventh Day Adventists and those
while handling meat, baked goods or who believe `kosher is better."
produce; did not wash their hands or
To accommodate the demand, man-
clean their work stations between ufacturers have flooded rabbinic au-
tasks; or allowed trash, ashtrays, per- thorities with requests to provide
sonal belongings and their own half- supervision. Many major food compa-
eaten meals to gather where food was nies now seek kosher certification for
being processed — all in violation of mass-appeal products — from Coke and
state health standards.
General Mills cereal to Heinz ketchup

and Ortega Mexican sauces — making
the U.S. kosher food industry a $33-bil-
lion-a-year behemoth.
As a result of the competition to be
kosher, consumers can buy certified
products at most any supermarket, in
nearly every aisle. A local chain, Fanner
Jack, offers its own kosher meat cases
in three of its stores.
That means stiffer competition for the
small-scale, family-owned shops that
used to dominate the local kosher food
market. •
"I've got 20 items and [Farmer Jack]
has got 20,000," said Jack Cohen of Co-
hen and Son, a now-closed butcher shop
in Oak Park. "I can't do that."
While the quest to compete may cause
sanitation practices to lapse in some
stores, theyroblem may be greater than
that.
"It is not a matter of kashrut," said
Jack Zwick, a Southfield-based certified
public accountant with an expertise in
hotels and restaurants who also acts as
a liaison between the Jewish Federa-
tion Apartments and the Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit. "It is
the way people keep up their place. It is
a matter of discipline."
While it may seem to some that a