269. Washing for Wet Food

40:17 If a person eats food dipped in a liquid, or if the liquid gets on the food and it is still wet, one must wash his hands without a blessing even if he doesn’t touch the wet part. (This is what we do at the Seder before eating the karpas dipped in salt water.) Many are lenient in this matter but the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch advises acting stringently. (Mishnah Brurah 158:20 says that one need not be stringent on an item smaller than the size of an olive; Mishnah Brurah 158:12 says that this rule only applies to things that are commonly dipped in liquids or otherwise made wet.)

40:18 There are seven liquids in this matter: wine (including wine vinegar), bee honey, olive oil, milk (including whey), dew, blood of an animal or bird, and water. Blood may not normally be eaten but this applied when it might have been used as part of a medicinal cure. In Hebrew, a mnemonic is the acronym “Yad Shachat Dam” (short for Yayin, Devash, Shemen, Chalav, Tal, Dam, Mayim). Other fruit juices are not relevant in this regard.