Traditionally, the fried potato latkes on Chanukah remind us of the miracle when the oil in the Temple burned for eight days.

But there’s no justification to celebrate by eating lots of oil, which can be very unhealthy.

Let’s remember that the Maccabees found only a bare minimum, a tiny cruse of oil that could only last a day. And that was pure olive oil, without the bad cholesterol that causes heart disease.

Do you love the taste of homemade deep-fried potatoes and latkes on Chanukah, but dread the unhealthy fatty oil?

Appealing to health and carb-conscious consumers, Alex Dzieduszycki, founder of Terra Chips and Alexia Foods, imagined fried potatoes with sophisticated flavor without all the fat and dangerous cholesterol. He therefore created a line of frozen potato products that are all natural and trans fat-free, prepared with unique flavors and frozen immediately to ensure a fresh, delicious-tasting side dish. No hydrogenated oils – Alexia’s fries and potato dishes contain either Pure Olive Oil or Hi-Oleic Canola Oil – and no artificial flavors or preservatives, only mouthwatering ingredients like Rosemary and Garlic.

This is no ordinary latke.

A gourmet by profession, Alex’s company began as a catering business in New York’s Lower East Side where he created an all-natural and exotic vegetable snack. As a New Yorker, he knows a thing or two about the advantage of making his products kosher. Although he is not Jewish, Alex boasts knowledge of keeping a kosher kitchen and says he understood that making his products kosher would “add value.”

After his snack foods proved to be a hit among consumers of all types, Alex decided to create something natural and exotic for the frozen food market. He wanted a convenient product that would be quick and easy to prepare, yet healthy, gourmet and all natural. “To sell to the kosher market made sense from day number one,” Alex says.

In keeping with his vision, most Alexia Food products were kosher from the start. In 1998 Alex began shipping Alexia foods to mainstream groceries, specialty stores and natural food stores.

So what’s the big deal about potatoes and oil being kosher?

It’s not so simple, according to Alex. Potatoes are inherently kosher, but oil and seasonings may not be. “Not all French Fries are kosher,” Alex says.

Oil, which can be rendered from animal fat, must have reliable kosher certification. In addition to the questionable sources of various oils, the method and machinery of food production has to support the rules of kosher as well. Alex therefore turned to OK Kosher Certification, with whom he had a solid relationship going back to 1990. Alexia Foods works diligently with the OK, the gold standard in Kashrus, to maintain its high standards.

Alexia produces their innovative products in their large and efficient state-of-the-art kosher facility in central Oregon that houses only kosher ingredients. Since the best potatoes hail from Oregon and Washington State - the home of Alexia’s other plant - Alexia chose these places to produce their top quality potato products.

Although Alexia’s plants are very far from large Jewish communities, OK personnel located across the USA easily travel to oversee the kosher supervision. “Logistically we have to be more efficient because we are not located near Lakewood, NJ or Brooklyn, NY,” Alex says.

With their homemade delicious taste, you’d think Alexia potato products come from a European Shtetl – with less oil, of course.