In the U.S.A., the kosher certifying agencies with which we are familiar did not start until the 1920’s and 1930’s, but their development can be traced back over 200 years. The need for kosher supervision in the United States dates back to Colonial times. As early as 1660, a Jew from Portugal applied for a license to sell kosher meat in New Amsterdam. The first recorded complaint was in 1771 against the Shochet Moshe. In 1774, the widow, Hetty Hays, complained that her shochet (ritual slaughterer) was selling non-kosher meat. This led to the first court license revocation against a kosher butcher in 1796.

As Jewish communities developed in the United States, they originally followed the European pattern of having community appointed shochtim. By this method, the shochet could easily be removed if he did not follow the strict guidelines set down by the community leaders. This method changed drastically in 1813, when the schochet, Avraham Jacobs, became the first independent schochet in the United States. He was followed by many more. Unfortunately, this change led to a rapid decline in the standard of kosher meat.

In 1863, a group of laymen and shochtim got together to try to form a kashrus organization that could control this situation. Regrettably, they were unsuccessful. It was not until 1897 that the shochtim themselves banded together to form a union called “Meleches Hakodesh.” Their goal was to improve kashrus standards, as well as the wages of shochtim.

By 1918, kosher products started finding their way into the American market. Abraham Goldstein, a chemist, was highly instrumental in both importing these products as well as in convincing domestic companies (such as Sunshine Biscuit Co.) to become certified kosher.

As the complexity of manufacturing processes and the need for kosher certification increased, this led to the emergence of GLOBAL KOSHER, based on the ‘Meleches Hakodesh", a new union called “Kehilat Kodesh" was formed under affiliation with the World Jewish Confederation. 

GLOBAL-K has an international network of regional coordinators and rabbinic representatives, all of them strictly Orthodox in their personal practice and synagogue affiliation. Each company, manufacturer, product, or service seeking GLOBAL K kosher certification or operating under GLOBAL K Supervision is carefully monitored by regional coordinators, field supervisors and the staff at GLOBAL K headquarters. Regional coordinators are based in major American cities, Canada, South and Central America, Australia, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia and Israel. These representatives conduct frequent visits to major manufacturers and their suppliers at every location where kosher certification and/or supervision is needed. GLOBAL K considers the confidentiality of all proprietary information as the highest of priorities, and trade secret security is completely is assured.

GLOBAL-K’s reputation for outstanding service to the organizations it supervises and certifies is well known. In addition to automated inspection tracking, GLOBAL K has compiled an extensive and comprehensive database of ingredients and ingredient suppliers, fully digitized, and accessible to all companies under GLOBAL K supervision/certification. This technology has placed GLOBAL K at the leading edge of contemporary Kosher supervision, raising industry standards to a new high and providing unsurpassed service, responsiveness, and speed.