Sara Lee and Bimbo bread products are displayed together in a Chicago store in 2010. Image by Getty Images

NEW YORK (JTA) — The largest baking company in the United States will be removing kosher certification from nearly all of its bread and rolls.

Bimbo Bakeries USA confirmed to JTA that it will be removing the certification. The company produces brands including Arnold, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, Freihofer’s and others.

Two of its major brands, Entenmann’s and Thomas, will remain certified kosher. A couple of rye breads also will retain their certifications.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Removing the kosher certification from some of our products was strictly a business-process decision to enable more efficient operations, and it was one we did not make lightly,” Bimbo said in a statement. “It is important to note that we have heard our consumers’ concerns and are working with kosher certification organizations and discussing alternative solutions.”

The company did not say when the decision will take effect, and the kosher certification agencies do not know, though they assume it will be sometime next year.

The decision will make it much harder for those outside major Jewish population centers to buy kosher bread, say executives at the Orthodox Union and Kof-K, the kosher agencies that certify the vast majority of Bimbo’s kosher products in the U.S. Rabbi Ari Senter, Kof-K’s kosher administrator, said the agency has received hundreds of concerned calls since the decision was first reported earlier this month.

Genack explained that the decision stems from a mix of corporate efficiency and obscure kosher laws: Bimbo wants the flexibility to produce its breads on the same factory lines as breads that contain dairy products. Because traditional Jewish law says meat and dairy products cannot be consumed at the same meal, breads for the kosher market must be strictly nondairy unless they appear and are marketed as obviously dairy — like cheese bread, says Senter.

Both agencies are in ongoing conversation with Bimbo hoping to salvage some more kosher brands and clarify when the changes will take effect. Until then, most breads remain kosher certified.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount