A few years after I moved to New York City, I attended a luncheon where we were asked to select from a variety of meal options that included vegetarian, kosher, and low-sodium. Now, I grew up in a community where diversity meant different shades of blonde. I had heard of kosher – after all, who doesn’t know the statement, is this deal kosher? – but I didn’t really know what kosher meant other than the fact that it was somehow affiliated with Judaism.
Still I selected the kosher option based on my believing that it meant the food was better than the non-kosher option. And this common view that kosher is somehow better, purer, and healthier than non-kosher foods is an opportunity for the kosher food industry.
Food trends thrive on perception, not reality. Fewer than 3% of the U.S. population are allergic to gluten, but the protein has concerned so many eaters who are convinced that they suffer from this aliment that items without the offensive ingredient are now featured as such on restaurant menus, packaged foods, and even on the boxes of Rice Krispies cereal. Film director and personality John Waters, who is currently on tour with his one-man show about Christmas, jokes, “I once told one of my dinner guests that I fed him a meal with gluten. He turned white and said he would die if he ate gluten. He didn’t. People like to say they have food issues when they don’t.”
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