The "Kosher tax" is the idea that food companies and unwitting consumers are forced to pay money to support the Jewish religion or Zionist causes and Israel through the costs of kosher certification. This claim is generally considered a conspiracy theory, antisemitic canard, or urban legend and is mainly spread by antisemitic, white supremacist, and other extremist organizations. Common refutations include: because consumers who prefer kosher foods include not only Jews, but also Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists, and others, food companies actively seek kosher certification to increase market share and profitability; the fees collected support the certifying organizations themselves; extra business generated by the voluntary certification process more than makes up for the cost of supervision, hence the certification does not necessarily increase the price of products, and may in fact result in per item cost savings.
Claims
The kosher tax conspiracy theory states that the kosher certification of products is an extra tax collected from unwitting consumers for the benefit of Jewish organizations. It is mainly spread by Antisemitic, white supremacist, and other extremist organizations, and is considered a canard or urban legend. Similar claims are made that this "Kosher tax" is "extorted" from food companies wishing to avoid a boycott, and used to support Zionist causes or the state of Israel. University of Pittsburgh professor of sociology Kathleen M. Blee reported that some racist groups encourage consumers to avoid this "Jewish tax" by boycotting kosher products.
Although companies may apply for kosher certification, the cost of the certification is typically minuscule, and is more than offset by the advantages of being certified. In 1975 the cost per item for obtaining kosher certification was reported by The New York Times to be 6.5 millionths of a cent for a General Foods frozen-food item. Certification leads to increased revenues by opening up additional markets to Jews who keep kosher, Muslims who keep halal, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians, and the lactose intolerant who wish to avoid dairy products. According to the Orthodox Union, one of the largest kashrut organization in the United States, "when positioned next to a competing non-kosher brand, a kosher product will do better by 20%." Quebec's Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Reasonable Accommodation refuted what it described as "he most fanciful information is circulating among Quebeckers” about the so-called kosher tax in its 2008 report and stated that there was no evidence of price inflation as a result of kosher certification and that rabbis made little money from granting certification. According to Berel Wein, "The cost of kashrut certification is always viewed as an advertising expense and not as a manufacturing expense." Dispellers of the "kosher tax" legend argue that if it were not profitable to obtain such certification, then food producers would not engage in the certification process, and that the increased sales resulting from kosher certification actually lower the overall cost per item. Avi Shafran adds that "f the kosher item in fact proves more expensive, can simply opt for one that hasn’t been supervised by a rabbi..." Obtaining certification that an item is kosher is a voluntary business decision made by companies desiring additional sales from consumers who look for kosher certification when shopping, and is actually specifically sought by marketing organizations within food production companies. According to Snopes.com, the fees charged for kosher certification are used to support the operation of the certifying bodies themselves, and not "some special Jewish fund used to advance Zionist causes".
