Why is the symbol on Worcestershire Sauce and other products that contains fish “OU Pareve” and not “OU Fish”?
• ANSWER: Since there is an anchovy ingredient in Worcestershire Sauces, one would rightly assume that as such it would prohibit eating the sauce together with meat or chicken. Thus one would be entitled to ask why the OU doesn’t label such sauces as OU-FISH instead of a plain OU. At the OU, we certify such products as ‘OU’ and not “OU Fish” only when the recipe of a product indicates that quantity of the fish ingredient in the product is very small and that there are more than 60 times as much of other ingredients as there is of the anchovy fish. This would render the fish ingredient ‘Botel’(Halachically dissipated). Thus the product is considered as if there is no fish ingredient. Should there not be 60 times as much, then the OU labels the sauce product as OU-Fish. For example the Worcestershire Sauces sold by Wal-Mart, Lee & Perrins, and Shoprite are labeled OU-Fish, because the amount of anchovy in the product is too much – the anchovy does not become Botel and the sauces may NOT
