Forgotten Berachos - Food Particles

QUESTION: I finished eating and recited a beracha acharona, however there are still small food particles stuck between my teeth. Am I required to recite a beracha before swallowing these food particles?

ANSWER: Sefer Ohr L’Tzion (2:46:48) writes that you are not required to recite a beracha on bits of food that remain between your teeth, even if you swallow them. Although he does not give any explanation for this ruling, perhaps it is based on a ruling of the Magen Avrohom (172:1). The halacha is that if you began to drink and realized that you forgot to recite a beracha, the drink in your mouth may be swallowed without making a beracha. The Magen Avrohom explains that this is because food that is in a person’s mouth would not be eaten by others. For this reason, it loses its status as food and does not require a beracha. By the same token, the same logic applies to bits of food that remain in a person’s mouth. Since they are no longer treated as edible food, a beracha is not recited.

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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.