Kosher Symbols on Food in the USA

United States

Six marks account for most of what a shopper sees.

• OU, a U inside a circle, the Orthodox Union. The most widely printed kosher mark in American groceries.
• OK, a K inside a circle, OK Kosher Certification, Brooklyn.
• STAR-K, a K inside a six-pointed star, based in Baltimore.
• KOF-K, based in New Jersey.
• cRc, the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
• Triangle K, a K inside a triangle, based in New York.

Beyond these, hundreds of smaller local and community agencies certify regionally. A mark you have never seen is not automatically suspect, but it is worth identifying.

Certification here is private, not governmental

No federal body issues, approves or registers kosher marks in the United States. Each mark is a private certification trademark owned by a rabbinic organization. What federal law does cover is truthfulness of labeling in general, not the definition of kosher. The Orthodox Union has additionally recorded its mark with US Customs and Border Protection, which gives a route to stopping imported goods that carry a counterfeit version of it at the border.

Canada

COR, the Kashruth Council of Canada in Toronto, and MK, run by the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, are the two you will see most. Plenty of Canadian shelves also carry American marks, because manufacturers selling into both markets certify once with an agency both sides recognize.

United Kingdom

KLBD, the Kashrut Division of the London Beth Din, is the mark most often printed on British products, and the Manchester Beth Din certifies alongside it. British shelves also carry marks from European and Israeli agencies on imported goods, which is why a UK label can look nothing like an American one for the same brand.

Why the same product changes mark at the border

Certification is bought, per market, from an agency the buyer’s customers recognize. One factory can run one recipe and print an American agency’s mark on the pack going west and a British or Israeli agency’s mark on the pack going east. Two different marks do not mean two different standards of care. They mean two organizations audited the same line for two audiences. The suffix letters, which matter far more day to day, work the same way everywhere and are tabulated in the kosher food symbols list.

Checking a mark you do not recognize

The Chicago Rabbinical Council maintains a directory of kosher certifying agencies, which is the standard first stop for an unfamiliar design. Identify the agency, then check whether the specific product appears in that agency’s own product list. A mark on a package is a claim about one product, not a blanket claim about the brand. If the mark you are holding is a circled U, start at the U symbol on food. The equivalent question for halal marks is answered on halal food symbols.