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Dietary laws refers to the rules promulgated by a religion concerning what is and what is not allowed to be eaten. The term is especially used in relation to Judaism and Islam. Many religions include such rules, although they rarely reach the level of breadth and detail which is observed in Judaism.
These rules can cover such matters as permissible and impermissible foodstuffs, rules regarding how food is to be slaughtered, and prohibited combinations of food (some foods, even though permissible in themselves, are not allowed in combination). Some foods may also be prohibited during certain festivals, even though normally allowed; and some foods may be prohibited only to particular classes of people (e.g. priests), but allowed for others.
From the point of view of traditional or conservative Judaism, the dietarylaws are divinely ordained, and the rejection of the yoke of these laws is tantamount to a rejection of the belief in Israel's redemption from Egypt (Sifra, Shemini, xii., based upon Lev.
All these dietarylaws, however, intended to give to the Jew the character of priestly sanctity, were declared to be "ḥukkim" (divine statutes), to which "the evil spirit ["yezer ha-ra'"] and the heathen nations object" (Sifra, Aḥare, 13).
In the Middle Ages the dietarylaws became the chief mark of distinction between the Jew and the Christian, whose antinomic maxim was: "There is nothing from without the man that going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man" (Mark vii.
The basic laws of kashrut are in the Torah's Book of Leviticus, with their details set down in the oral law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) and codified by the Shulkhan Arukh and later rabbinical authorities.
Such a rationale seems reasonable when considering the laws prohibiting the consumption of carrion birds or birds of prey (which are advantageous scavengers), as they may carry disease from the carrion they consume; shellfish, which as filter feeders can accumulate harmful parasites or toxins; or pork, which can harbor trichinosis if not properly cooked.
Nevertheless, the method of slaughter used in strict adherence to Jewish law has been criticized as being inhumane by a number of animal rights organizations, in particular because animals are killed without the use of anesthesia, often administered to cows by firing a bolt into the brain or by electric shock to the head.
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