In order for beef to be kosher, the following requirements must be met:
- Prior to slaughter, there can be no visible sign of injury and/or disease in the animal.
- The animal must be slaughtered by a specially trained religiously observant Jew, this person is called a 'shochet'.
- The animal must be killed with a single slice across its throat with a knife that cannot have even a single nick along its blade.
- The animal must be drained of as much blood as possible after the slaughter.
- The animal's internal organs must then be inspected for any signs of disease, if there is any indication of illness, the meat cannot be used for kosher consumption.
- Certain arteries, sections of fat, and nerves must be removed. Due to the complexity of the nerve and artery system in the hind quarter, that section is almost never used for kosher consumption so no T-bone steaks and other cuts.
- The meat then has to be salted to draw out as much blood as possible.
Overall, the inspection process for kosher meat is much more strict than government requirements. Also, some devices used in non-kosher meat plants are not allowed for kosher meat which has reduced the chances of transmission of such things as mad cow disease.