How to Become a Mashgiach: A Practical Guide
If you've ever walked into a kosher restaurant or attended a kosher event, there was probably a mashgiach in the background making sure everything met halachic standards. It's not a symbolic role. A mashgiach is often the only person in the kitchen who fully understands what kosher supervision actually requires. If you're thinking about becoming a kosher supervisor, here’s what that process looks like.
What Is a Mashgiach
A mashgiach is a kosher supervisor. Their job is to make sure food is prepared, handled, and served in accordance with halacha. In food service and manufacturing, they act as the direct representative of the kosher certification agency. That might mean overseeing a restaurant kitchen, managing kosher compliance at a catered event, inspecting deliveries at a factory, or maintaining standards at a school cafeteria.
The work is hands-on and detail oriented. A mashgiach has to know how to verify kosher symbols, inspect produce, confirm that equipment was kashered properly, and watch for mistakes that could compromise a facility’s kosher status. It also means keeping things running smoothly and professionally without lowering standards.
Who Can Become a Mashgiach
To qualify, you need to be Jewish, shomer Shabbos, and personally committed to halachic observance. You also need to be reliable, focused, and able to communicate clearly with both kitchen staff and your supervising rabbi.
You don’t need to be a rabbi or have prior food industry experience, but you do need to know how to maintain kosher standards in a setting that moves quickly. That includes halachic knowledge and the ability to apply it across a range of food service environments.
Where to Start
Most people begin with formal mashgiach training. That means learning the practical halachos and protocols that govern kosher supervision in food service settings. Topics typically include:
• Kosher ingredients and approved certification
• Meat, dairy, fish, and pareve separation
• Bishul Yisroel and Pas Yisroel
• Insect inspection and produce washing
• Kitchen equipment and commercial ovens
• Sealing procedures and labeling standards
• Shabbos and Yom Tov food handling
• Working with non-Jewish staff
• Event and off-site supervision
The AKO (Association of Kashrus Organizations) Mashgiach Course, developed by Kosher Institute of America in partnership with AKO, is the most widely used training standard across the kosher certification world. It is available exclusively through the Kosher Institute of America and offered in several formats depending on your needs and affiliation.
The General Edition includes the full curriculum and gives you everything you need to begin mashgiach training. You’ll still need hands-on produce inspection practice, but the course covers the halachic and procedural foundations. This version includes a certificate of completion but does not serve as formal certification.
If you're looking for official kosher supervisor certification with a photo ID and placement in the AKO mashgiach database, you'll need to take a Hashgachos Edition, which is administered through an AKO-member certifying agency. These courses are customized for each agency, and the ID card is issued at their discretion. If you’re connected to one of the listed hashgachos, you can reach out to them directly to request access. If your agency is not yet participating, your administrator can contact us and we’ll set up a course for them at no cost.
Please don’t enroll in a Hashgachos Edition without prior approval from a participating agency.
Do You Need Hands-On Experience
Yes. Completing an online mashgiach course gives you a strong foundation, but you still need to be comfortable applying it in real-life kosher kitchens. Most kosher certification agencies will require in-person orientation, walkthroughs, or supervised shifts before assigning you to a job. That may include produce inspection drills, reviewing how to seal takeout orders, or learning how to manage kitchen flow during busy shifts.
You’ll be expected to know how to check vegetables properly for infestation. That means understanding how to soak and agitate, how to inspect using a thrip cloth or lightbox, and when produce needs to be rejected. You’ll need to be comfortable handling commercial kitchen equipment, including ovens with automatic shutoffs, deep fryers, and warming units. You’ll have to know how to seal takeout orders, verify that deliveries match approved kosher product lists, and confirm that packaging is intact and certified. At events, you may be setting up a kosher kitchen in a non-kosher environment, checking every item that comes in, guiding staff, and maintaining kosher supervision from prep to cleanup. These are the skills you’ll be expected to carry out in real time.
Getting Placed
Once you're trained, you can apply to work under a kosher supervision agency. Some jobs are full time and based in one location. Others involve rotating between multiple sites, covering catered events, or filling in for short-term needs. You may be assigned to restaurants, camps, yeshivas, nursing homes, bakeries, or production facilities.
Most mashgichim work under the direction of a Rabbinic Coordinator who they report to regularly. In that role, you’ll be expected to document any issues, keep accurate logs, and know when something needs to be escalated for a halachic decision.
Final Thought
A mashgiach is there to protect the standard, not just check boxes. That means being present, paying attention, and knowing how to make the right call when something doesn’t go as planned. It also means being the person people turn to when they have questions or concerns about the kashrus of what they’re eating.
If you're not sure which mashgiach course is right for you, we’re happy to help you figure it out. Email us at info@kosherinstitute.com and we’ll gladly guide you toward the version that fits your background, your goals, and your connection to a kosher certification agency.