Orthodox Union App Tracks Kosher Products

With Passover a mere day away, there's no better time to know the difference between kosher and non-kosher. Tech-savvy kosher observers can download the newest version of the Orthodox Union Kosher app, a searchable database of all things kosher.

The app, available for iPhones and Androids, has more special features to make kosher shopping a cinch in addition to the database of 600,000 foods made in 8,000 manufacturing plants, kosher alerts and product updates, and an interface to ask questions to OU's Kosher Information Hotline.

The app also includes a "Kosher for Passover" status for foods, including chametz (leavened foods forbidden during Passover). OU's director of digital media, Gary Magder, explained to Reuters, "What's kosher and what isn't during Passover becomes so much more complicated because certain kinds of products that are fine during the year are not fine to eat during that eight-day period."

Another kosher app option, especially for Canadians: the MK Kosher 1.0 App for the iPhone. Among its databases and other features, the Snap It! feature lets you snap a pic of a product you're unsure of and email it to the Montreal Vaad Ha'ir, who certifies kosher products.