An Insect in Hot Soup

Q. I found a dead fly in my hot pot of soup. What is the best way to remove it?

A. As previously explained, non-kosher food is ordinarily nullified in mixtures of sixty parts kosher food (bitul bishishim). However, food that imparts a foul taste (ta’am pagum) is nullified even without sixty parts, provided the majority of the mixture is kosher (botel birov). According to Shulchan Aruch and Rema (YD 107:2), Taz, Chochmas Adam and Aruch Hashulchan, flies and other repulsive insects are botel birov because they are assumed to impart a ta’am pogum. Accordingly, one may remove the fly with a spoon even though the ratio between the soup in the spoon and the fly will be considerably less than one to sixty. The spoon will remain kosher, since the taste of the fly is a ta’am pogum, and it is botel birov. On the other hand, the Tur, Shach (107:7) and Maharshal rule that a fly does not have a ta’am pogum and therefore a small spoon should not be used. Instead, the fly should be scooped in a large ladle with an amount of soup that is more than sixty times the size of the fly. Although most poskim are lenient, if possible, it is best to use a large ladle to avoid the issue completely.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.