3,397. What Constitutes Snacking?

Hilchos Maaser 3:19

If someone takes first tithe while the produce is still in the stalks, it may not be eaten until terumas maaser has been taken. If one ate such produce, he is given stripes for acting rebelliously. Snacking is as follows: if someone was peeling and eating barleycorns, he must do so one at a time. If he peeled several kernels and held them in his hand, they must be tithed. If one was crushing kernels of wheat, he may sift the chaff between his hands and eat them, but if he sifted them on his chest, they must be tithed. It should go without saying that if one sifted them with a utensil, they must be tithed as this is not temporary use. One may likewise put wine into cold cooked food in a bowl and eat it, but one may not add it to a pot of food – even if it the food is cold – because this is like a small wine vat. One may squeeze olives onto his skin but not into his hand. The same rules apply in all comparable cases.

Hilchos Maaser 3:20

Just as one may eat produce as a snack when its labor has not yet been completed, one may feed as much of it as he likes to domestic and wild animals and birds. One may also declare as much of this produce ownerless as he likes. If he completed the labors of the produce, even if it is not yet obligated in tithes (such as if he plans to bring it into his home), he may no longer declare it ownerless or feed it to animals and birds in a permanent fashion until it has been tithed. One may feed an animal untithed produce in a temporary fashion, even in his home. One may feed an animal fenugreek until he makes packages of it.