Hebrew National Kosher Sausage Factory, Inc. was founded in 1905 by Jewish Romanian immigrant butcher Isadore Pines (born Pinckowitz). In 1965, Hebrew National came up with the slogan that they've used ever since: We Answer to a Higher Authority — a reference to Jewish dietary laws and a claim to higher quality that was able to appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish markets.

In 1968, the Pines family sold Hebrew National to Riviana Foods, which was taken over by Colgate-Palmolive in 1976. In 1980, Isidore "Skip" Pines, grandson of the founder, bought the company from Colgate-Palmolive for a fraction of the price it was originally sold for.

The health food movement of the 1980s encouraged the company to stick to a recipe that used no artificial colors or flavors, and to minimize other potential modernizations of the recipe.