Sprinkling Sugar on Fruit

Q. May one coat sliced fruit with sugar on Shabbos?

A. In a previous Halacha Yomis, it was mentioned that Sefer Halachos Ketanos (1:218) writes that under certain circumstances, it was permissible to use sugar in place of salt to “salt” korbanos before they were placed on the mizbei’ach (altar). This would indicate that sugar preserves meats in a manner similar to salting. Salting hides is prohibited, as mi’abeid (tanning/preserving hides) is one of the 39 prohibited activities on Shabbos. Chazal extended this prohibition to disallow salting raw fruits and vegetables, since preserving foods in salt resembles the melacha of tanning. Moreover, Chazal prohibited formulating strong salt solutions, since it may appear that it will be used for tanning. Does this apply to sugar? May one sprinkle sugar on fruits and vegetables on Shabbos?

Sefer Divrei Yatziv (YD 16) cites various poskim who raised this issue and some write that according to the Halachos Ketanos, one must be strict. Rav Yosef Engel (Tziyunim L’torah) raises this concern but does not seem to rule accordingly. Divrei Yatziv concludes that this cannot possibly be prohibited since there is no mention of this concern in any of the classic sources. Though it is true that sugar can act as a preservative, it is not similar to tanning with salt, and there is no restriction to put sugar on fruits and vegetables.

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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.