Kosher food is divided into three primary classifications: meat, dairy, and parve. These categories determine how foods are prepared, combined, and served, and explain common confusion around chocolate, dairy-free labels, and kosher supervision.

All Chalav Yisrael chocolate is kosher dairy, but not all kosher dairy chocolate is Chalav Yisrael. The difference lies in how the milk is supervised at the source, not in the chocolate-making process itself. This article explains what that distinction means in practice and why it matters to different consumers.