Rabbi, I don’t know if you heard about this, but there is a recent trend of eating Tide pods (no, I’m not kidding—the colorful detergent packets used in washing machines). I don’t think I would ever do it, but if I did, do those pods needs to be certified kosher for consumption?

You do not really need a rabbi to advise you against eating Tide pods. They are not food and probably very dangerous. Period. Nevertheless, this is an excellent opportunity to clear up a few misconceptions about kosher and kosher certifications .

Kosher Poison

One common misconception is that if something is kosher, then it must be healthy to eat.

When something is certified as “kosher,” it is being certified that there are no ingredients that violate Jewish dietary laws. This includes, but by no means is limited to, making sure that non-kosher animal byproducts are not found in items, as well as no mixing of meat and dairy.

At times, the strict controls set up by some kashrut organizations can have an added benefit of producing a healthier product, though this is not always the case. To illustrate, hemlock—one of the deadliest and most infamous of poisons (think Plato and Socrates)—comes from a plant and is completely natural, and therefore is technically “kosher.”

Of course, one of the commandments in the Torah is to be careful with our health, so one shouldn’t eat anything that is harmful to them. Yet what is harmful for one person may be fine, or even healthy, for another. Therefore, the question of health is left to doctors (who themselves are not always in agreement), and the question of kosher is left to rabbis.

In short, just like hemlock may be kosher but no one in their right mind would advise consuming it, the same can be said for other dangerous items (including, of course, laundry detergent).

Having established that just because something is “kosher” and even “kosher certified” does not mean it is healthy to eat, we can turn to the question of kosher certification on detergents and similar items.