Frequently Asked Questions

Who is DigitalKosher?. 1

Is DigitalKosher secure?. 1

What is the source of DigitalKosher's information?. 2

How do I get agency authorization code to register at DigitalKosher?. 2

What is KCert?. 2

Is my agency a KCert customer?. 2

What is K-ID?. 2

What is a Paper K-ID?. 2

Can anyone with my K-ID see my formula?. 3

Can anyone with my K-ID get the paper kosher certification letter backing it?. 3

Are all my certificates available for everyone to view?. 3

Can anyone else see my private information?. 3

How do I get more than one product on a certificate?. 3

How do I get Listed/Unlisted on the Supplier Search?. 3

What is Subscribing to a K-ID?. 3

What if I don't have MS Excel on my computer?. 3

Will I have to pay for this service?. 3

What is a Letter of Authorization?. 3

How can I open excel documents that I download in Excel rather than in the browser window?. 3

How do I make a custom kosher certificate with all my items?. 4

How do I make a custom kosher certificate with some of my items listed?. 4

How will I know when the certificate has been completed?. 4

How can I share the custom kosher certificate that I have created?. 4

What is a KC Group?. 4

What is the KC Number?. 4

How do custom certificates renew?. 4

How do you define a labeler?. 4

How do you define a producer?. 4

How do I view my product certificate?. 4

How to I send my product certificate?. 4

What should I do if my product does not have "approved" status?. 4

What does "Include Internals" mean?. 4

What does reformulate mean?. 4

What does "View Same As" products mean?. 4

When would I send a note to my agency?. 4

How can I export my products to a spreadsheet?. 4

What if my question isn't here?. 4

DigitalKosher is a service provider that provides manufactures of Kosher food with high-value services which take the effort out of processing the paperwork involved in Kosher certification. The core of how this is done is with the K-ID and the DigitalKosher web site which puts all of the necessary information at your fingertips.

We recognize the great importance placed by our subscribers on the integrity and confidentiality of their data. We take the following steps to ensure the security of your information and our site:

1)      We provide continuous monitoring and auditing of all transactions originating from or outbound to the Internet.

2)      Data is encrypted as it travels to and from your PC. Encryption is accomplished through "Secure Sockets Layer," the de facto standard for data encryption on the Internet. This means unauthorized individuals cannot decipher your sensitive information.

3)      DigitalKosher does not connect directly to the Internet. It is protected by "firewalls" -- a software and hardware product that defines, controls and limits the access that "outside" computers have to DigitalKosher's computers.

4)      We are committed to working to produce the safest operating environment possible for our subscribers and will take advantage of evolving security enhancements.

DigitalKosher gets its information by contacting your certification agency's system and providing it with the credentials (account and authorization code) that you provide when you register with DigitalKosher. Using this information, DigitalKosher can retrieve your product list, ingredient list and kosher certification letters and allows you to see them through DigitalKosher's portal.

Contact your certification agency. If they use KCert, they can give you authorization over the phone. You will require three pieces of information:

1)      A KCert account name - this identifies which company you represent.

2)      A Person name - this identifies who you are.

3)      An authorization code - this is a password to make sure that the correct person is accessing KCert information on Digital Kosher.

KCert is a comprehensive turnkey solution for kosher certification agencies to track their activities and data surrounding the certification of food manufactures. From your perspective, an agency using this system can provide you with access to DigitalKosher, provide K-IDs for your products, not to mention the improved customer service that comes from using KCert.

OK Kosher Certification, Kosher Australia, Kehilla Kosher, Montreal Kosher, 1K Kosher, Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis, EarthKosher, Dallas Kosher, FloridaK and Kashrut Authority are currently KCert customers. KCert is actively looking to add other agencies to the system, and is in fact close to doing so with several agencies. If you are interested in seeing your agency using KCert so that you can get the benefits of DigitalKosher and the K-ID, please let them know.

Please see the K-ID page for a comprehensive explanation of the K-ID.

A paper K-ID represents a paper Kosher Certificate Letter that has been submitted to Digital Kosher. Upon submission of the paper certificate, it is scanned, digitized  and published to the Kosher Certificate Letter repository. Upon publishing, a K-ID is assigned and can be accessed by your customers and Certification agency directly without logon or registration to DigitalKosher. This K-ID is identical to a K-ID that has been generated by the certifying agency.

Absolutely not. They can only see the information made available on the kosher certification letter, and nothing else. For a more comprehensive explanation of the K-ID system, please click here.

By providing the K-ID to DigitalKosher, they can view the paper certificate backing the K-ID. Since the K-ID is not guessable, however, you would have to provide them with the K-ID. The K-ID is simply an easy way for you to transmit your Kosher Certification Letters without paper.

No. The only way someone can view your certificate is if they provide the K-ID for that item. In addition, DigitalKosher is planning to offer services where subscribers can search for alternative suppliers for ingredients. Your item can be listed there if your agency publishes a food guide with your product on it, or if you request that your products be publicly searchable on DigitalKosher (the ability to make this request is coming soon).

Absolutely not. Your information is kept confidential, consistent with our Customer Services Agreement.

In order to protect the information about your products, most of the time each K-ID is placed on a separate page so that giving out one K-ID doesn't automatically inform people about other K-IDs. If you wish to use DigitalKosher to distribute multiple products to a customer, the simplest way is to download a Microsoft(r) Excel list of your products from DigitalKosher and distribute that. You can use Excel's AutoFilter feature to limit the list of items, and then copy and paste that list into a new spreadsheet and send the new spreadsheet to your customer. This way they will never ask you for an updated certificate again!

Allows you to define where your products will be available for searching.
To set up the Security Level for your Product List click on Manage Account and select the Security Level you require.

The security options available are:

• Level 1 - Your products are publicly available with no login required
• Level 2 - Your products are searchable in a portal that requires a login, i.e. DigitalKosher.com
• Level 3 - Your products are searchable only by Kosher Certification Agencies.
• Level 4 - Your products are private, and they are not searchable.
• Case by Case - Specify security level on each product individually

Selecting a security Level 1 through Level 4 on the Manage Account page will apply the setting to all your products on your Product List.
By selecting the Case by Case option, you can then specify each product individually by clicking on your Product List.
Each product will have a Security Level assigned to it. By clicking on the security level hyperlink, you can change the setting per product.
Please note by selecting Level 1 or Level 2, your products will be included in the Supplier Search, selecting Level 3 and Level 4 will exclude your products from the Supplier Search.

A subscriber to a K-ID will receive an email notification every time the Kosher Certificate Letter of this K-ID changes in any significant way by the certifying agency, such as if product name or kosher status changes. This is a convenient way to stay up to date on the status of any product in which you have an interest. You can cancel the subscription to an individual K-ID or to all K-ID updates at any time. You will be presented with instructions in each email update.

You do not need to have Excel installed on your computer to use the features of DigitalKosher.com. There are several software programs that can read and write the .xls file format. You can download a free software suite here or find an alternative on the web.

If you are a user by virtue of your Kosher Certifying Agency providing you with a Digital Kosher account, there is not cost. If you are using Digital Kosher to source certificates for the items that you purchase, there is a nominal fee involved. For info about using Digital Kosher to collect your certificates contact sales@digitalkosher.com or call 718 512 9613. For vendors responding to request from their customers, there is no charge levied.

DigitalKosher encourages it's customers to complete a letter of authorization, which will be used by Digital Kosher to indicate to your suppliers that you have granted Digital Kosher the appropriate permission to request the kosher certificates on your behalf. Please complete the introductory letter, by placing it on a company letterhead, and having the letter signed by the individual in charge of Kosher. Once completed, the letter can then be uploaded onto the Digital Kosher website, to be sent to your suppliers. For a sample letter, please click here

• Open Windows Explorer or My Computer.
• Select the Tools menu.
• Click on Folder Options...
• Click on the File Types tab.
• In the list of Registered File Types, scroll down to the XLS file extension and click on it.
• Click on the Advanced button.
• Deselect the checkbox 'Browse in Same Window'.
• Press OK and repeat for any other document types you wish.

Click on the "Create a new certificate will all my items" button. In the subsequent popup select labeler and producer. You may also select to receive email notification when complete. To proceed, click on the "submit" button.

Click on the "create a new certificate with specific items" button. Then select from the "labeler" and "producer" dropdowns. Then select an existing category or create a new one. On the next screen select the desired products, by either searching individually or by clicking "Show my products".

An email will be sent on completion, provided this option was selected before submitting. You can also visit the "Custom Kosher Certification Letters" page and the status of each custom kosher can be viewedon.

Click "Email the Kosher Certificate" to add name and email address of desired recipient(s). Click "OK" on the lower left hand side of that form to have the certificate sent.

This is the name assigned to the items when making a certificate with a selection of the kosher certificates

This is the number assigned to the custom kosher certificate letter, which can be used as a reference with your certifying agency, if needed.

The certificates do not automatically renew, but KC Groups are retained for use in subsequent years.

The labeler is the name of the company that will appear on the label of the product.

The producer is the company that manufactures the product.

Click on the K-ID on the product list page, or within the expanded product view, click on "View Kosher Certificate"

In the expanded product view, select "email K-ID" - the certificate will go out to the recipient, future kosher status changes to the product will automatically be emailed to the recipients. Alternatively click on the small envelope in the third column. For management of subscribed K-ID's, please see the K-ID outbox.

In the expanded product view, click on the "data request sheet" to see ingredient list of needed item(s).

This is used in the event that the formulae of a product needs to be updated, and that change needs to be sent to your Kosher Certification agency.

This is used in the event that the formulae of a product needs to be updated, and that change needs to be sent to your Kosher Certification agency.

Same as products represent products that share the same formula as other products.

This would be used in cases where you wish to inform your agency of a product name change or something similar

Above the product list itself, two buttons enable this - "view All Products in Excel" or "View Filtered Products in Excel", which will product only a list of items based on your search criteria.

Please contact us with any questions you may have.