The mark
What the mark asserts, and how it may be used
The Emet mark is a claim about a product, made by us, on packaging we do not control. This page is what it claims and the rules that go with it. Certificate holders receive the same rules as the mark usage guide in their artwork pack, where they form part of the certification agreement.
Every variant, and exactly what it means
There is no neutral Emet mark. The mark with no letter beside it is not a logo — it is a positive statement that the product contains neither dairy nor meat. If you are looking at a mark and cannot see a letter, that is the claim being made.
| On the pack | What it asserts |
|---|---|
| אno letter | Pareve — contains neither dairy nor meat |
| א PAREVE | Pareve, stated explicitly |
| א D | Dairy — contains dairy ingredients |
| א DE | Dairy Equipment — pareve, made on dairy equipment |
| א MEAT | Meat |
| א FISH | Contains fish |
| א P | Kosher for Passover — NOT an abbreviation of pareve |
P means Passover. It has never meant pareve. This is the most consequential misreading in kosher labelling: someone avoiding dairy sees a P, reads it as pareve, and eats a dairy product. Pareve is the mark with no letter at all, or the mark reading PAREVE in full.
DE means the product is pareve but was made on dairy equipment. It is not dairy, and it is not unqualified pareve. Whether that distinction matters is a question for the person eating it, which is exactly why the mark states it rather than deciding for them.
The rules that come with it
The licence to use the mark is granted with a certificate, is not transferable, and ends when the certification does. These are its terms.
- 1
Only on the products on the schedule, made at the facility on the certificate.
The certificate covers named products made at a named site. The same product made on a different line, at a different plant, or to a changed formula is not the product that was certified.
- 2
Only from artwork Emet supplies, and only after Emet approves the final printed layout in writing.
The designation is part of the mark, not a caption beside it. A mark redrawn, retyped or rebuilt in a design file is the single most likely way a dairy product ends up carrying a pareve claim.
- 3
Never smaller than its minimum size — 11 mm across for the full cut, 8 mm for the compact cut.
Below that the ring fills in and the letter stops being legible, and an illegible designation is worse than none: the reader still sees a hechsher.
- 4
Never altered — not recoloured, not stretched, not rotated, not partially reproduced, not placed on a background that reduces its contrast.
The mark is what a buyer recognises at arm's length in a shop. A mark that varies is a mark that cannot be recognised, and one that can be imitated.
- 5
Never in a way that implies a wider certification than was granted.
The mark on a carton of six certified items and two uncertified ones asserts something Emet never decided. So does the mark in a company logo, on a vehicle, on a building, or on a website in a way that suggests the business rather than the product is certified.
- 6
Stops immediately on suspension, reduction or withdrawal.
The licence to use the mark rests on the certification being current. When it is not, the licence has ended — including for stock still to be printed, and including advertising that refers to the certification.
If you think a mark is being misused
Anyone may tell us, and you do not have to give your name. Quote the certificate number if the pack carries one and we will link it to the record automatically. A mark on a product we never certified is a matter we take up ourselves.
Report a certificate or mark problem · Check a certificate number · Part V of the scheme, in full