Maran in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah siman 117, writes a Halacha that says "Kol Davar SheAsur Min HaTorah Asur LaAsot Bo Sichora". This means that it is forbidden to do business with any item that is forbidden from the Torah. So for example, it would be forbidden for someone to sell non-kosher meat. Thus it would be forbidden to sell forbidden items from the Torah even to non-Jews.
So the question was asked this week by someone who wanted to buy turkeys for some of his employees. He wanted to know if it is permissible or not to buy non-kosher Purdue Turkeys for his non-Jewish workers.
The Kaf Hachayim in the same siman, in seif katan 28 writes, that in addition to the prohibition of selling Torah forbidden times, it is also forbidden to give Torah forbidden items as gifts. He explains that gift giving is a means of reciprocating for work. Rewarding an employee with a gift is like a transaction of providing benefit for work, and therefore the gift may not be a Torah forbidden item.
Therefore, a business owner may not purchase and give non-kosher turkeys for his employees even if his employees are not Jewish.
It is common for businesses to send gifts or food baskets to buyers and clients, especially in the 4th quarter. Our businessmen must be careful that their gift packages do not contain Torah forbidden items. As we mentioned before, the giving of non-kosher wine is strictly forbidden. (See the Daily Halacha entitled "Is It Permissible To Sell UnKosher Wine" dated 10-11-04.) Likewise, one should be careful to avoid purchasing gift baskets from the market that contain dried meat, as giving non-kosher meat is not allowed as we discussed above.
