Hebrew National is a brand of kosher hot dogs and sausages made by ConAgra Foods.
In 1982, Hebrew National opened a non-kosher division under the name National Deli; it was sold off in 2001, and is now based in Florida.
History
The Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc., was founded on East Broadway, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1905. The company was founded by Theodore Krainin (1870–1946), who emigrated from the Russian Empire (now Belarus) in the 1880s. By 1921, the factory was registered as government inspected establishment #552 by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry with Theodore Krainin as proprietor. Alfred W. McCann writing in a 1921 Globe and Commercial Advertiser article cited Hebrew National as having "higher standards than the law requires." McCann wrote the article during a crusade for commercial food decency standards, in which the Globe was prominent. He wrote, "More power to Krainin and the decency he represents! Such evidence of the kind of citizenship which America should covet is not to be passed by lightly." Hebrew National "served the Jewish neighborhoods of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Germany and soon developed a favorable reputation among the other Jewish residents of New York City."
120px|thumb|right|Previous logo bearing famous slogan [[We answer to a higher authority]]
In 1934, after a bankruptcy action, the certificate of incorporation for Hebrew National Sausage Factory listed Solomon Levinson, Sylvia Marans and Miriam Spector, all of Brooklyn, as directors and shareholders. In 1937 after an increase in capital stock, Jacob Pinkowitz was listed as an officer. The company was bought by Jewish Romanian immigrant butcher Isadore Pines (born Pinkowitz). In 1935, Isadore's son, Leonard Pines, took over the business. In 1965, Hebrew National came up with the slogan that they've used ever since: We answer to a higher authority — a reference to Jewish dietary laws and a claim to higher quality that was able to appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish markets. In 1968, the Pines family sold Hebrew National to Riviana Foods, which was taken over by Colgate-Palmolive in 1976. In 1980, Isadore "Skip" Pines, grandson of Isadore, bought the company from Colgate-Palmolive for a fraction of the price it was originally sold for.
The health food movement of the 1980s encouraged the company to stick to a recipe that used no artificial colors or flavors, and to minimize other potential modernizations of the recipe. This strategy ultimately proved successful, and with a growing revenue, Hebrew National hoped to transform itself into a large conglomerate through acquiring other brands, in order to compete with the food giants that dominated the industry.
Hebrew National developed a non-kosher brand called "National Deli". This strategy was less successful, and National Foods was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 1993. The National Deli brand was sold off in 2001 to a former Hebrew National employee, and still operates out of Miami, Florida. The Jewish Daily Forward wrote in 2004, that then-recent changes in supervision are "unlikely to translate into a significant increase in sales."
In the early 2000s, Hebrew National switched to an external certification group, Triangle K, under the auspices of Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag, which was widely seen as an upgrade in its standards of kashrut. In 2004, the Conservative movement found the upgrade sufficient to be acceptable.
Nonetheless, The Jewish Daily Forward reported that most Orthodox authorities did not follow this endorsement, and most Orthodox Jews continue not to rely on its kashrut.
Products
Hebrew National makes beef products including beef franks, salami, bologna, corned beef, pastrami, and knackwurst. Condiment sales were discontinued in 2010.