A growing concern for kashrus officials is the constant supply of mashgichim (kosher supervisors) in the rapidly expanding kosher food industry.
Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, Kashrus Administrator of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and Executive Director of the Association of Kashrus Organizations (AKO) says that the need is particularly acute in local kosher establishments where the pay scale is lower and where turnover is widespread.
Many of the larger kashrus organizations sponsor regular training sessions for would be mashgichim. There were many such seminars by the Orthodox Union (OU) and Star-K, for example, this past summer.
Increasingly, technology is a part of the training as many local establishments use surveillance video cameras and other high tech tools to monitor operations even in catering kitchen. There are an estimated 1500 mashgichim in the US.
In most cases, the mashgichim are paid by the local establishments with few exceptions.
Many of the participants in the seminars are exploring whether to enter the field while others are determined to make a career out of hashgacha, using a position in a local establishment as a stepping stone to a more lucrative supervisory position.
With an increasing number of restaurants, caterers, and other such establishments, the demand for mashgichim rises.
Why are Mashgichim being paid by the owner of the busines? The owner now could tell him what he wants witch are not all ways Kosher only the Kashrus agencie should pay the Mashgiach and the Mashgiach should only oversee Kashrus or like checking for bugs etc. but nothing else?!
And still didn;t get any recognition by either the hashgacha, the establishment you are working for, and the general (frum…) public that always look down on you like you are doing the lowest underpaid undesired job ever created, in 20 years of service I can recall dozens of stories that reflect that previous statement, I just remember 1 (ONE, UNO) person that once tipped me $ 20 bucks for doing what was correct at his event, only once, other than that nobody will EVER tell you THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICES MASHGIACH! if they want to speak to you is… Read more »
Mashgichim are paid by the local establishments for working as soux-chefs or just regular kitchen workers. To do their own mashgiach’s work they take a few minutes break to fill up the daily log, watch over delivery, turning on cooking fire and checking the vegetables. After short break mashgiach is back to cutting vegetables, washing dishes, packaging food, taking phone calls, and so on. Unless mashgiach is truly frum person, he would let his kashrut responsibilities go easy, just because he is paid for his productivity in the kitchen while he competes with lower paid regular kitchen workers. In the… Read more »
Because the food industry constantly desires to reach a wider public, many food factories want, as many as is possible, certifications (vegetarian, helal, organic, animal friendly etc etc)
This presents new opportunities for hoshgochos and mashgichim
Agreed 100%. There should be less training of “mashgichim”
And more training of how to be a chef or a business manager having a mashgiach playing on his phone for 12 hours dosnt help kashrus, the establishment, or the person himself. If the mashgiach was the chef a lot of issues would be resolved
To #2,
Kashrus can be a career (I’m doing it for 30+ years BH) however the ones who can make a career out of it are the ones who are out in the field (or in the office). The mashgichim in the restaurants and caterers have a much harder time.
I did a bunch when I was a Bochur and had a few days here & there. In summer. Chol hamoed etc. even took flights to rural areas. As a Bochur it’s fun. But for minimum wage?? Pay is very low. And no growth. They need to pay more. And more successful and talented people will join.
If a mashgiach only trained for an hour I’d stay as far away from his hashgacha as your cynical attitude.
DO THESE ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES IN QUESTION HAVE THE PROPPER HASHGACHA? : )
Being a mashgiach is a job not a career you can work at the same restaurant or the same wedding hall for years and you’ll never get a raise. Very few people involved in hashgacha actually go on and get a job in a hashgacha beyond restaurants and catering halls so of course they have a high turnover rate. There’s a reason why a lot of mashgichim are either older people who lost all their money when the stock market crashed in 2008 and are too old to learn something new so they’re mashgichim which takes 1 hour to learn… Read more »
If only their salaries were rising too…