Noahide Dietary Laws

Only one of the Seven Noahide Laws puts a direct restriction on our diet; “Do not eat flesh that was removed from a living animal.”  Although this seems like a rather narrow restriction, there is discretion as to how a Noahide may observe this law and just how strict they would like to be.  

The first man, Adam, was permitted to use animals for any useful tasks.¹  However, he was not permitted to kill animals for food, although he could eat meat from an animal that died naturally.²  It was not until after the flood that Noah was permitted to kill animals for food.³

Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat; like the green vegetation, I have given you everything.⁴

Despite the permission to kill animals for food, we are not permitted to eat the flesh that was removed from an animal while that animal was still alive.

But, flesh with its soul, its blood, you shall not eat.⁵

Even if the animal from which the flesh was removed while living dies thereafter, the flesh that was removed before the animal died is prohibited for consumption.⁶

Flesh that becomes detached from it [while it is dying] is considered like flesh detached from a living creature and is prohibited to a Noahide even after the animal has expired.⁷

For purposes of Noahide consumption, an animal is considered dead once the heart stops beating.⁸  Generally, in large slaughterhouses in the United States, the method of slaughter does not usually bring about immediate death.  However, the length of time between the slaughtering and processing is typically enough time for the heart to stop beating.  In smaller slaughterhouses, however, this may not be so.  If the animal’s heart had not stopped by the time it was processed, the meat would be prohibited for Noahide consumption.⁹ 

What this means, is that unless we know “with certainty how the animal was slaughtered, and the policies of the slaughterhouse as to determining the death of the animal,” we cannot know with certainty if the meat we buy is permitted.¹⁰

Despite this doubt, Noahides are allowed to eat meat bought from a grocery store, at least in the United States.  As Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel wrote:

There are two approaches to dealing practically with the question of flesh from a living animal:

1) Regular, grocery store meat is 100% acceptable for Noahides. Even though there are uncertainties as to whether or not the concepts of “nullification by majority” and “doubt” apply to Noahides, there are also uncertainties as to whether or not meat from living creatures is even present in the marketplace. Noahides may rely upon these two uncertain factors in combination to permit regular grocery store meat.

2) Because there are some who would question this leniency, a Noahide may voluntarily, and as a stringency only, elect to only eat meat that was slaughtered according to Jewish ritual practice.

This latter approach does not advocate or imply that Noahides are in any way obligated or expected to keep Kosher – the Jewish dietary laws. The only reason for electing to consume such meat is that, by doing so, one can be guarded from any suspicion of ever min ha-chai, flesh taken from a living animal, according to most authorities. Observing this elective stringency does not constitute chiddushei dat, creating a new religion. The reason it is not chiddushei dat is that one observes this stringency only in order to avoid eating ever min ha-chai, flesh from a living animal. One does not observe this stringency to “keep kosher” or in any way imitate Jewish practice; after all, a Noahide has no share or obligation in such laws. Furthermore, the fact that such meat, which is certain not to be ever min ha-chai, happens to have been slaughtered according to Jewish law is arbitrary. After all, one could achieve the same effect by electing to only eat meat that he himself has slaughtered. By doing so, he can ensure that the animal has fully died before it is carved up.¹¹

For those who wish to take the more stringent approach, there are websites and organizations that can assist.  One such place is Certified Humane. Certified Humane monitors, certifies, and labels humanely-raised and slaughtered livestock. The well-known animal behaviorist Temple Grandin is on their board and helped draft their guidelines for care, slaughtering, and processing.

Additionally, there may be some kosher food delivery service available depending where you live.  In my area there is Kosher Kaddy.  Kosher Kaddy delivers kosher food including kosher meats.

1. Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel. The Noahide Laws. Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim, 2014, p. 339.
2. Rabbi Moshe Weiner. The Divine Code. Expanded Second ed., Vol. I, Ask Noah International, 2011, p. 295.
3. The Noahide Laws, p. 340.
4. Genesis 9:3
5. Genesis 9:4
6. The Divine Code, p. 297.
7. The Noahide Laws, p. 349 (quoting Chullin 121b).
8. The Noahide Laws, p. 350
9. The Noahide Laws, pp. 350-351
10. The Noahide Laws, p. 351
11. The Noahide Laws, pp. 353-354