Kashrus - Testing Soap Mixture

QUESTION: I bought a soap-making kit. Some of the ingredients may not be kosher. It is all non-toxic, but I am quite certain that it does not taste good. Am I permitted to taste the soap and spit it out in order to ascertain whether it is ready?

ANSWER: The Mateh Yehonasan (YD 108:5) cites the Tzemach Tzedek who permitted tasting soap made from animal fat and spitting it out to see if it is ready. Although Chazal forbade eating inedible non-kosher foods, that is because eating them demonstrates that you do not consider the food to be inedible. That does not apply here, since the soap is not swallowed. It is merely placed on the tongue and spit out. Ordinarily, Chazal do not permit tasting non-kosher foods even if they will be spit out. For instance, the Rema (YD 108:5) writes that it is forbidden to be a wine taster for non-kosher wines, even though you will spit out the wine after tasting it. This is because there is a concern that one might willingly swallow the food upon tasting it. However, the Mateh Yehonasan explains that this concern does not apply to soap, since no one will be tempted to swallow it. The Pri Megadim (Mishbetzos Zahav YD 105:9) writes as well that one may be lenient to taste soap and spit it out, since it is not just inedible for humans, but is inedible for animals as well.

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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.