KFC Israel going kosher

Article on http://www.ynetnews.com/ March 09, 2009
By Meirav Crystal

International fast food chain taking steps to turn its branches in Israel kosher, including replacing milk-powder chicken coating with kosher soy-powder coating, said to be identical in taste.



Going kosher pays, as international fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken has learned, and is now taking steps towards receiving full kashrut in its Israeli branches.

Thanks to a special approval granted by the global chain, KFC Israel announced on Sunday that it would start marketing its chicken meals with a kosher soy-powder coating rather than the standard milk-power coating.

The approval was granted after two years of negotiations and deliberations, since the milk-powder element has been an inseparable part of KFC's world-famous coating for over half a century, and is what gives it its one-of-a-kind taste and coloring.

The kosher powder that will replace the milk ingredient is a milk-flavored soy powder that was approved by Kentucky Fried Chicken's labs in Dallas, Texas.

Thanks to this development, the chain will be able to open kosher branches in other places around the world where large Jewish populations are concentrated.

According to KFC Israel, the new taste is identical to the original, and the move to develop the new ingredient stemmed from many customers' requests to avoid mixing meat and dairy.

Kentucky Fried Chicken has 10 branches in Israel, two of them being strictly kosher, while the rest operate on Shabbat.

According to the company's plans, three more branches are expected to be opened throughout 2009.