Sunday, September 16, 2007

interesting little episode

First of all, let me advise you to never stop at a grocery store with which you're not familiar, just to save time because it's "right on your way".

That's what we did after the funeral yesterday.  From the outside, it was huge, so you'd figure they had any brand of grocery item you might want; it was also a Price-Chopper; I have a Chopper-Shopper card.  I figured I'd go in, get my six items, and we'd be on our way.

They didn't have two of my items..  And of course, we wandered all over this huge store, back and forth, to get the items they did stock.

Sugar-free Jello was one of the things we actually found (Cliff's favorite heart-healthy dessert), and as the tall, swarthy clerk scanned our items, he held up a box of the Jello and said with a smile, "What's actually in this stuff, do you know?"

"Well," I said, "unless they've found a different way to make gelatin these days, it's made from cow's hooves."

His smile totally faded, and he said, "... and pig's hooves?"

I immediately realized why he was interested in knowing.  Although he had a mere trace of an accent, he was from a middle-eastern country.  Muslims don't eat pork.  I glanced at his name tag, which confirmed that he was indeed from such a country; I think the name was Adir.

Cliff and I replied, almost in unison, "No, just cows' hooves."

Of course, I couldn't help wondering if we were steering him wrong.

But he said, "I'm glad I stopped eating that!" 

In the car, I looked at a box of Jello and noticed a "K" on the front.  I said to Cliff, "Doesn't that "K" mean kosher?  Because if it does, it can't have any part of a swine in it.  Jewish people don't eat pork either, so acceptable foods have the "K".  I wish I had thought of that, so the guy could eat his jello with no concerns."

Cliff didn't know.  He didn't even know, until I told him, that Muslims don't eat pork.

So yesterday evening, I googled a couple of things:  This is why I love the Internet, because if you have questions about your facts, the answers are usually right at your fingertips.

For the information about Jello, click HERE.  The article does say "cow and pig bones".

However, Jello brand evidently contains cow hooves and bones only,or it wouldn't have the "K" for Kosher, right?  For an article I found explaining the symbols used for such products, click HERE.  Upon more googling, though, I found that, to Jewish folks, a plain "K" isn't very reliable; the letter K inside a diamond is.

Yes, I love the Internet.  Now if I run into another Muslim, I can steer him in the right direction.  Like that's going to happen out here in the boonies! 

Still, it's nice to have the right information inside my brain.  Of course, at my age, the problem would be remembering the information.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never really thought about the contents, now I know why they always said gelatin made stronger fingernails.  Yes, I agree, we've got so much info now that it is hard to remember it all.  The main thing is that we do know how to get the info if we need it.  'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

Here I was thinking gelatian was made from horse hooves. Helen

Anonymous said...

Glad I don't eat jello at all, I'm not keen on eatin' any hooves, whosever they are .... ugh.  Interesting story.  I don't know what I ever did before 'google', it's a great thing!  Judy

Anonymous said...

Sometimes such information from google might just be better unknown hehehehe I think Jello is officially off my list of things I will eat hehehehe. The very idea of eating hooves and bones just doesn't exactly do it for me. Which is probably why I do not enjoy eating in restaraunts...You just never know exactly what you may be eating...smiles...
                                                                                                 Lovins...
                                                                                                 TrayCee

Anonymous said...

whoa!  i feel so educated now!

Anonymous said...

The lady that works with us is in her 80's and you wouldn't know it to see her...and I always use to tell her that I thought her good health was due to the little bowl of Jello and the grahm cracker that she eats with it unfailingly EVERYDAY for lunch! lol
love ya,
carlene
ps...I have forgotten if I sent you my journal url...here it is....

Anonymous said...

Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop......it never occurred to me WHAT jello was made from. LOL....I just EAT it !

Now that I know.....I'll STILL eat it....there's ALWAYS room for JELLO !  Thanks for the info Mosie !!    

Anonymous said...

Well that is an interesting piece of info. I don't like jello except with bananas and apples in it or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I know not good for me. Paula

Anonymous said...

cherry flavored cow hooves.  I'm not going to tell my kids about your latest discovery.  LOL

~Amy

Anonymous said...

I was told to look for a U in a circle, not a K in a diamond. I am not Jewish either - so I am going to read your link right now!

xoxo

Anonymous said...

I vote for YOU...............you are such a good person Mo.   I remember that song and I agree about that song and White Christmas.  Plus Bing could really whistle.  Anne

Anonymous said...

Sorry, this was supposed to be under your LATEST enty.

Anonymous said...

That is the truth, we are always learning new things these days via the internet. I dont know how many times on our trip Sunday we bantered back and forth "Look it up on the internet!" if we werent sure about something we were talking about at the time.

Anonymous said...

"I can STEER him in the right direction"

And not let him "pig" out on hog hooves?  LOL!  Did you realize that you had a pun in that statement?

Anonymous said...

Eat more jello and you won't forget!  Think about this ... 'it' happened once, it could happen again.

Anonymous said...

Muslims beware. Certain Jewish sources permit gelatin made from pig's bones based on lengthy Talmudic discussions having to do with the total change in the form of the bone into a gelatin like substance that is not similar to the original. This view is not widely held by Rabbis in the USA, but is accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.