Our Jewish community's most trusted and familiar symbol of kashrut has had a facelift. If you've ever stopped to ponder the meaning behind the letters at the heart of the Beth Din Kashrut diamond, here is the long awaited explanation. You will notice four seemingly arbitrary letters, FSUC. The Federation of Synagogues (FS) was the umbrella body of the Orthodox Synagogues in the Transvaal, Natal and O.F.S. while the United Council (UC) was the same body in the Cape Peninsula. In 1983 these two bodies joined forces to form the Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) of South Africa (SA) as we are still known today.

However, the FSUC trademark remained registered, until now, and 29 years later we have finally re-registered the trademark with UOS and SA now replacing FS and UC in our updated kashrut logo.

For us, this is a tremendous milestone. At the very epicentre of our most recognised symbol, UOS SA is now proudly displayed. And that's exactly where the UOS fits in - at the heart of Kashrut, and at the heart of fostering and maintaining the infrastructure necessary for Jewish life in South Africa. It is because of our dedicated Kashrut Divisions that this symbol appears on over 13,000 unique products, with 70,000 unique ingredients constantly being monitored through 4000 annual inspections both locally and abroad. Diamonds truly are a Jew's best friend.

We have distributed the new logo to all our manufacturers and you may start to notice it slowly making its appearance. However it will take some time before it is fully phased in nationwide. Please note that the old logo remains completely valid.