Pareve

In kashrut, the dietary laws of Judaism, pareve (from פאַרעוו for "neutral", in Hebrew , and also parve and other variant English spellings) is a classification of edible substances that contain neither dairy nor meat ingredients. Food in this category includes all items that grow from the ground (fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.), fish (only Kosher fish), eggs, and non-biological edible items (such as water and salt). Kashrut forbids consuming mixtures of milk and meat, consuming milk and meat at the same meal, consuming dairy foods within a period of time after consuming meat (the period varies by custom), and using the same dishes for both dairy and meat. Pareve foods, being neutral, can be consumed with either dairy or meat. Eggs that have been laid are considered pareve because they are separate from the animal. But eggs found inside a bird after its slaughter are considered to be part of the animal and therefore have the status of meat. Commercially marketed eggs generally are not taken from slaughtered animals and therefore are pareve. Kashrut requires that common bread must be made pareve, because bread is a staple food, and there is a strong chance one may forget that the bread contains dairy or meat ingredients. Bread need not be made pareve if it is made in an unusual shape or consumed on the same day it is made. Even vegetarians are required to refrain from baking non-pareve bread because kashrut applies equally to all Jews. Food that contains only pareve ingredients but that comes in contact with dairy or meat dishes in the home or that is manufactured on equipment also used to manufacture dairy or meat equipment maintains the status of pareve, and may be consumed after eating dairy or meat. However, if such contact is made, it may only be consumed on dairy or meat dishes respectively. Some commercial products that are pareve but have been manufactured on dairy equipment bear the letters DE after the hechscher to let the consumer know the product cannot be consumed together with meat.