Kosher Beef Gets a New First Name

Well, except for the name part. According to Vos Iz Neias, Rubashkin isn’t the only game in town — or they won’t be for long.

Although production hasn’t slowed at Rubashkin/Agriprocessors as much as feared, their transgressions (not to mention the new public distrust) has left a gaping hole in the market. And who better to step in than Empire, the main distributor of kosher chicken, who’s already got a tremendous — some might say, monopoly-prone — hold on the kosher flesh market?

One other thing that’s interesting to note: the new, as-yet unnamed meat company (apparently, they’re not using Empire’s name) is going to be certified by Star-K and Khal Adas Jeshurun. Which means that they aren’t using America’s first (and, of late, most controversy-prone) kosher certifiers, the OU.

And just when I thought this was going to turn all my Haredi relatives into vegetarians….

Update: Agriprocessors has just been served charges of child labor law violations. The OU announced that they are considering withdrawing their kosher certification…uh, in a week or two. And how unnecessarily gross are all the headlines that are some variation on “Child Slaughterhouse?”