Civil laws regarding kashrut

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Civil laws about kashrut (Jewish dietary rules) exist in several countries. In many places, advertising rules bar using the word "kosher" on a product label unless the product actually follows Jewish dietary laws, but what “kosher” means can vary. Some laws require rabbi certification; others spell the rules in statute; others let a manufacturer simply believe the product meets the rules. In some cases, labeling restrictions were later ruled to illegally interfere with religion. In the United States, some old laws tried to define "kosher" and make it a crime to sell a product labeled kosher if it wasn’t prepared according to Jewish law. Courts later struck these laws down as unconstitutional because they established religion. Some people argued that kashrut is just a set of food-preparation standards, so labeling something as kosher should be no different from labeling it with other generic food terms.