Seem to be fewer Hechshers

Have been out Hanukkah shopping, with a slight urgency as my son and daughter-in-law are driving to us for Thanksgiving, so I can include items that do not ship well like liquids and bulky items this year. We have our tradition, established by my in-laws when their kids were little. Each person gets one nominal gift each night with an aggregate price limit, wife and I each get four for our kids, aggregate price limit $50 and eight for each other, aggregate price $100. The tactics for doing this have changed a bit over fifty years. Books largely obsolete as are dvds and cds. Toys outgrown. Stuff with cat logo and cheap baubles or cosmetics can be unique. But what keeps it within budget, and avoids clutter with tchotches later are the edibles, one or two per person each year.

It is the petty edibles that changed in the last 5-10 years. Candy, cookies, cocoa, jellies, many honeys, specialty teas all had some form of kosher certification. Many have disappeared, particularly with small boxes of chocolates made in Europe that include lists of ingredients in Arabic. Hot sauces and cocktail additives in small variety vials, potentially ideal form my kids, no longer carry hechshers at all. There just seem fewer options the last couple of years. I assume that the cost of obtaining certification has inflated beyond the means of the small seasonal niche manufacturers without the market of Jews and Muslims who depend on the certifications.

On the other hand, there are now a lot of OU-D gingerbread houses, the first year I’ve come across any made by other than Manischewitz or other Jewish themed manufacturers. Hershey and Oreo and some from a British manufacturer are now certified, even though the houses themselves have candy decorations in the shape of Christmas themes. Got my daughter-in-law one with an Oreo base.