Yet another variant in the way we are becoming more involved with our food choices.
The non-Jewish kosher market has been growing in earnest since the 1990s, when the koshering of the Oreo was hailed as a watershed event and ConAgra Foods bought the Hebrew National hot dog brand. Now, 40 percent of the food sold at grocery stores has a kosher imprint, according to the kosher and halal food initiative, a research project at Cornell University.
Recently, the pace has picked up. Major retailers including Wal-Mart, Costco and Trader Joe’s have kosher programs. At FreshDirect, the New York City grocery delivery company, orders for kosher chicken were up 30 percent in 2009. The kosher Tootsie Roll was introduced last month.
Because so many packaged foods carry a kosher seal, shoppers unwittingly buy kosher food every day. But people who buy products specifically because they are labeled kosher could be spending as much as $17 billion by 2013, according to Packaged Facts.
Born Curious 
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