Understanding the Rabbinic Debate over Imitation Pork Products https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2022/05/understanding-the-debate-over-imitation-pork-products/

May 4, 2022 | Shlomo Brody
About the author: Rabbi Shlomo Brody is the executive director of Ematai, an organization dedicated to helping Jews think about aging, end-of-life care, and organ donation. His newest book, Ethics of Our Fighters, was released at the end of 2023.

Last fall, the Orthodox Union (OU)—the world’s largest kosher-supervision agency—declined to approve a soy product titled “Impossible Pork,” in part because many Orthodox Jews objected to the word “pork” in the name. As Shlomo Brody notes, however, the OU’s director “kept the door open for revisiting the decision.”

Interestingly, many kashrut agencies have provided certification for vegan or plant-based burgers, nondairy margarine, and even fake shrimp. The OU itself certifies “porkless plant-based snack rinds” as well as Bacos, one of the first soy-based meat substitutes. In theory, some of these products could be problematic if people were to confuse the substitutes with the original prohibited item.

This problem, known in halakhic literature as mar’it ayin [i.e., the appearance or impropriety], can be circumvented if there are clear markers [distinguishing the permitted object or activity from the forbidden], or if it becomes readily known that there are fake look-alike versions.

Thus medieval authorities found ways to permit drinking almond milk with meat products, much as we allow nondairy creamer at meat meals. Besides printing clear kosher symbols on product labels, some kosher supervision agencies will insist that the product name should indicate that this is a faux version (e.g., “veggie bacon”), something that the makers of “Impossible Pork” were apparently unwilling to do.

Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-705429