Ask the Rabbi
- Halacha
- Kosher or Not?
- Medications and Vitamins
Question
Are vitamines & microelements supposed to be kosher?
Answer
Tasteless or bad-tasting vitamins that must be swallowed whole are not food and cannot be eaten as food. They therefore do not require a hashgacha. If, however, you know for a fact that they contain non- kosher ingredients, then they should not be ingested by a totally healthy person and can be used only to treat a sickness, or disorder even if these are not life-threatening. Homeopathic elements are all “batel”- they are so minimal as to be considered non-existent. The base that they are in- distilled water? oil?- must be kosher (Shmirat Shabbat K’Hilchata ch.40 n.169; Nishmat Avraham, Orach Chayyim 466; B’Ohala shel Torah I 21).

Kashrut Supervision on Vitamin D Drops
Rabbi David Sperling | Adar 27, 5781

Hechsher for medications
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Adar 24, 5769

nicotine for pesach
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Nisan 12, 5783



