363. Forgetting to Say a Bracha

50:9 If someone takes a drink or eats something in an attempt to push down something that is stuck in his throat, he must recite the usual brachos over that item. However, if he drinks water to help swallow something, not because he’s thirsty, he does not say a bracha. This is because one does not have benefit from drinking water except for when he’s thirsty. (Mishnah Brurah 204:40 clarifies that one doesn’t actually need to be thirsty to say a bracha on water, which is an important thing for us to drink in sufficient quantities.)

50:10 If someone forgot and put food in his mouth without saying a bracha, a number of factors apply. If he can spit the food out without rendering it undesirable to eat, he should spit it into his hand and say the bracha. One does not say a bracha with it still in his mouth because Psalms 71:8 tells us “My mouth will be filled with Your praise.” If spitting it out will make it too unappetizing to eat, he should push it to the side of his mouth and say the bracha. This is because it is forbidden for us to waste food unnecessarily. If he’s drinking, then if he has more of the beverage, he should spit out what’s in his mouth. (This is appropriate to do even though what he spits out is wasted – MB 172:2.) If he has no more and it’s important to him, he should swallow what’s in his mouth and then say the bracha normally recited beforehand. Since he remembered while it was still in his mouth, it’s considered like saying the bracha then. In such a case, one does not recite a concluding bracha unless he drank a reviis (about 3.5 ounces) of wine. (Mishnah Brurah 172:3 prefers the position of the Mechaber, that the time of a preceding bracha has passed and only the concluding bracha is recited. He writes in 172:5 that most authorities agree with the position of the Mechaber and not that of the Rema, which is the opinion favored by the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.)