Pas Yisroel - Bread Crumb Coating

QUESTION: I am careful to eat only Pas Yisroel. I accidentally used Pas palter breadcrumbs as a coating on my fried fish. Can I eat the fish?

ANSWER: A previous Halacha Yomis explained, based on Shulchan Aruch (YD 112:14-15), that non-Pas Yisroel is nullified in a simple majority. In this case, the breading is not nullified since it is not mixed into the fish, but rather is a separate layer on the outside. However, there is another basis to be lenient. The Avnei Nezer (YD 100) writes that if Pas akum is cooked by a Yisroel, it would be permitted, based on the concept of “yeish bishul achar afiya” (cooking after baking is considered significant). Just as one who improves bread that was already Pas akum by finishing the baking can turn it into Pas Yisroel, so too he argues that cooking bread removes its status of Pas akum. The Avnei Nezer admits that the Maharil discussed this same question and was strict. Still, he posits that according to other poskim, there is a basis to be lenient. The Mishnah Berurah (Shaar Ha’tziyun 603:4) writes that one should only rely on this leniency in a time of extreme need such as a time when one cannot access Pas Yisroel. Therefore, it would seem that one should scrape off the coating and just eat the fish. Although the breadcrumbs may have transferred some taste into the fish, the rule that bishul and pas akum are nullified in a simple majority would apply with regard to this transferred taste.

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