I am vegan, but not for religious reasons. I have a business associate who is an Orthodox Jew. I had lunch with him recently, and considering the limited number of kosher restaurants in town where he could eat, he took me to one that he said had some vegan dishes. As I know well, kosher restaurants can only serve dairy or meat but not both, and the one he took me to serves meat. And at the entrance, there was a sign on the door from the agency of certifying rabbis stating that all cooked food served at the establishment, including vegan dishes, require a 6-hour waiting period that Orthodox Jews follow between eating meat and dairy, and the only exception was fish, which I don’t eat. I am very familiar with that waiting period. What bothers me is this restaurant is labeling some of its food as ‘vegan’ when it actually does contain some meat, albeit small traces. For me as a vegan, that is not acceptable. All I was able to eat at this restaurant was a salad.

Hello! I read on chabad.org that one needs to wait six hours after having meat to have dairy because bits of meat can be stuck in between the teeth or that the taste of the meat is still in the mouth. If that is the case, what if I just brush my teeth right after and use mouthwash to rinse out my mouth to get rid of the taste/bits of meat? Wouldn't that solve it since there will be no more remnants? Also, why do we not wait between dairy and meat if either way the dairy food will still be in the stomach when having meat (as in, I had macaroni and cheese and now want a hot dog)? They did mention its best to wait around 30min-1hour after having dairy but why isn't it six hours like meat before dairy?