Technology is advancing rapidly and food manufacturing facilities are no exception. As a result, COR – Kashruth Council of Canada, Canada’s largest kosher certifier, has instituted an aggressive continuing education regimen for its rabbinic inspectors to arm them with latest advancements in food manufacturing. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and COR’s continuing education programs are serving to strengthen COR’s kashrut standards and assist COR’s rabbinic inspectors during their inspections at COR’s many kosher facilities.
Two recent half day seminars featured Mr. John Maconachie one of Canada’s most prominent process engineers, covering the ins and outs of the high end machinery often used in food manufacturing facility. The equipment discussed included heat exchangers, homogenizers and sterilizers, while the processes covered include heat treatments, process components and steam. “I’m often consulted to design food manufacturing facilities, and all too often kosher processes are an afterthought,” Maconachie said. “But if we can learn from one another and incorporate kosher from the outset, I think both manufacturers and kosher consumers would benefit.”
Rabbi Sholom H. Adler, COR’s Director of Industrial Kosher Operations and organizer of the COR continuing education program thought that the benefits of the program were evident. “COR’s rabbinic inspectors are of course experts in Jewish law and food science, but we need to constantly stay up to date on current trends in manufacturing. By having continuing education seminars like this, our rabbinic inspectors improve their knowledge base which helps them, the COR organization as a whole, and ultimately kosher consumers are the beneficiaries.”