Hebrew National is a brand of kosher hot dogs and sausages made by ConAgra Foods, Inc.
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The Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc. was founded on East Broadway, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1905. It served the Jewish neighborhoods of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Germany and soon developed a favorable reputation among the other Jewish residents of New York City. In 1928, the company was bought in bankruptcy by Jewish Romanian immigrant butcher Isadore Pines (born Pinckowitz). In 1935, Isadore's son, Leonard Pines, took over the business.[1] In 1965, Hebrew National came up with the slogan that they've used ever since: We answer to a higher authority — a reference to Jewish dietary laws and a claim to higher quality that was able to appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish markets.
In 1968, the Pines family sold Hebrew National to Riviana Foods, which was taken over by Colgate-Palmolive in 1976. In 1980, Isidore "Skip" Pines, grandson of the founder, bought the company from Colgate-Palmolive for a fraction of the price it was originally sold for.
The health food movement of the 1980s, with CEO Steve Silk at the helm, encouraged the company to stick to a recipe that used no artificial colors or flavors, and to minimize other potential modernizations of the recipe. This strategy ultimately proved successful, and with a growing revenue, Hebrew National hoped to transform itself into a large conglomerate through acquiring other brands, in order to compete with the food giants that dominated the industry.
Hebrew National developed a non-kosher brand called "National Deli". This strategy was less successful, and National Foods was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 1993. The National Deli brand was sold off in 2001 to a former Hebrew National employee, and still operates today out of Miami, Florida.
The site of Hebrew National's manufacturing plant had been New York City for many years; it moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1989. The Indianapolis plant was closed down in 2004 as operations were consolidated with the ConAgra Foods Armour hot dog plant in Quincy, Michigan.
Ironically, Hebrew National beef products cannot be eaten by many observant Jews, despite the fact that Hebrew National is probably one of the most well-known kosher brands among non-Jews. For many years, Hebrew National relied on a body within the company to certify its products kosher. Many Orthodox Jews did not feel that Hebrew National's kosher standards were up to those set in place by groups such as the Orthodox Union, Kof-K, and the like, and as such, would not consume Hebrew National beef-based products. (Standards, and opinions, differed for Hebrew National's poultry.)
The Conservative movement also did not regard Hebrew National acceptable and therefore not Kosher. Rabbi Paul Plotkin, the chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards' Kashrut Committee, wrote that "Until recently, Hebrew National, which is widely distributed, wasn't 'kosher enough.' Its supervision was unacceptable to many Jews who keep kosher including the Conservative movement."[2]
In the early 2000s, Hebrew National switched to an external certification group, the Triangle K, under the auspices of Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag which was widely seen as somewhat of an upgrade in its standards of kashrut. In 2004, the Conservative Movement found the upgrade sufficient to be acceptable by Conservative standards.[2]
Nonetheless, the Jewish Daily Forward reported that most Orthodox authorities did not follow this endorsement, and most Orthodox Jews continue not to rely on its kashrut.[3]
Hebrew National meat is not glatt kosher and its certifiers do not represent it as such. Accordingly, its meat is unacceptable to the majority of Orthodox Jews in the United States, where the pervasive Orthodox custom is to observe Glatt kashrut.[3]
Hebrew National primarily makes meat products. They are most famous for their hot dogs, but they also make salami, bologna, knockwurst, Polish sausage, and cold cuts. In addition to meat, they make a small number of sausage-related kosher condiments: sauerkraut, pickles and mustard.