Is It Kosher?

Ice creams, sherbets, frozen desserts, and ices contain a variety of emulsifiers, stabilizers, prepared mixes, and flavorings that require supervision. This is equally true of fruit ices and frozen ice pops which may contain a number of non-kosher stabilizers and flavorings. Sherbets and fruit sherbets contain milk by law and are not pareve. Ices also should not be considered as pareve unless endorsed as pareve on the product label.

Fortunately, throughout the United States, many companies have come to the economic realization that "Going Kosher" would increase their marketability. Today, many national brands of ices, ice creams and yogurts can be purchased with reliable certification.

Each retail package of ice cream has an ingredient listing including all additives. Key ingredients in kosher-supervised ice cream include: milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, corn sweetener, guar gum, mono-diglycerides, polysorbate 80, carob bean gum (locust bean gum), carrageenan (Irish Moss), natural and artificial flavors, and annatto color. Each of these requires supervision to verify their kosher status.