Orthodox Union (OU Kosher) אַרטאדאקס יוניאן (OU)

The Orthodox Union (OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It was founded on June 8, 1898, by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes as a federation of Orthodox synagogues. It runs a kosher certification service whose circled-U symbol appears on the labels of a huge number of kosher food products, and it is one of the "Big Five" US certifiers. The OU also supports synagogues, youth programs, programs for people with disabilities and Torah study programs, with branches in Israel.