JEWISH HOME LA

Yehudis Litvak

KosherQuest, the website of the Kosher Information Bureau, has recently released its first app, available for both Android and iOS operating systems. The new app makes it easier for kosher consumers to identify kosher products on the go, right as they are shopping.

Headed by a renowned kashrus expert, Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz, KosherQuest is a unique source of comprehensive information on all kashrus related matters. While other websites only maintain catalogs of products certified by a specific organization, KosherQuest presents information from different kashrus agencies in one place, explains Rabbi Yisroel Pollack, who contributes to the website. About a million people from all over the world use the KosherQuest website every year to get kashrus information.

The new app lists the reliable hechsherim that Rabbi Eidlitz recommends, along with the names of the kashrus agencies and their contact information. There are over 1000 agencies and individual certifiers in KosherQuest’s database, and they are located all over the world, including such remote places as Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

The app also offers a convenient list of all kosher Slurpee flavors in the U.S. and Canada, which the customers can consult while visiting stores like 7-Eleven. Latest kashrus updates can also be accessed through the app. In case the user doesn’t find the information sought, the app provides an easy way to contact Rabbi Eidlitz with kashrus questions.

KosherQuest’s kosher product database is currently being updated with the most current information, and eventually will also be accessible through the app, as well as through the website. The goal is to make the database more user-friendly, says Rabbi Pollock.

The app, like all the information available on the KosherQuest website, is free of cost. The Kosher Information Bureau, which was started in 1977, is non-profit. They never charge any company for listing their products, so that they can offer unbiased opinions on the products’ kashrus. As a matter of principle, KosherQuest never provides its own kashrus certification, to avoid conflict of interest. “I simply share my opinion,” says Rabbi Eidlitz, explaining that he leaves it up to the consumer to decide whether to listen to him or not.

Rabbi Eidlitz conducts thorough research of a product or kashrus agency before recommending it on KosherQuest. “People often ask me to recommend their hashgachah,” he says. “I wouldn’t do so unless it’s something I would eat.”

Passionate about kashrus, Rabbi Eidlitz considers the numerous hours he spends assisting kosher consumers a way to express his dedication to klal yisrael. With the new app, Rabbi Eidlitz is hoping to be able to assist even more people searching for reliably kosher food, whether at home or on the go.