Various food products fall under the kosher category. Certain factors, such as how food items are prepared and what food combinations are acceptable, must be considered in adopting a kosher lifestyle. The following guidelines may be helpful:

Fowl

Jewish law specifies which bird species are kosher. Ducks, chicken and turkeys are kosher. The majority of scavenger and predatory birds are not kosher.

Land Animals

For land animals to be considered kosher, they need to have split hooves and they must masticate the partially digested food from their first stomach during a sort of “second chewing process.” Deer, cows, sheep and goats are kosher. Horses, dogs, pigs, cats, rabbits, squirrels, bears and camels are not.

Seafood

Only water creatures with fins and scales, such as salmon, herring and tuna, are kosher. Shellfish, crabs, catfish and other bottom feeders, as well as all water mammals, are not.

Other Species

Insects, worms, amphibians and reptiles are not kosher. Only four types of locusts are kosher.