When Science Meets Kashrut: How one woman blazed a trail in OU Kosher

 https://jewishaction.com/food/kashrut/when-science-meets-kashrut-how-one-woman-blazed-a-trail-in-ou-kosher/

Dr. Leff’s specialty was educating kashrut professionals and the general public to have an understanding of the increasingly complex relationship between kashrut requirements and the challenges presented by emerging high-tech food production techniques.

“Kashrut questions arise at all stages of a biotechnology product,” she continued. “Our posekim face new challenges, and they are devoting increasing attention to resolving these issues.”

She expanded on this theme in a 1996 Jewish Action essay, “Do Natural + Wholesome = Kosher?”: “Natural ingredients carry a hefty financial premium, so there are strong incentives to cheat,” she wrote.  “In this case, however, replacing a ‘natural’ ingredient with one derived from petrochemicals is good for kashrut. . . . Everything I ever learned in my life was used in my work in kashrut,” Dr. Leff says. “I pride myself on having brought the awareness of the kashrut aspects of the many thousands of ingredients used in food manufacturing, including those produced by means of biotechnology.”