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Mon, Jan 12, 12:19 PM (21 hours ago) |
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Hello Rav Abadi,
I am interested in understanding your position regarding natural flavors and bittul in halacha. I understand that natural flavors will always be less than a 60th in products and therefore be batel. However, I would like to understand how you deal with the issue of עבידא לטעמא. I know that it is a dispute between the Rambam and Rashba regarding anything added for flavoring regardless, and that the Noda Be’yehuda sides with the Rambam. However, when it comes to spices, the Rama says straight up that since they give off a strong taste and are recognizable even in over a 60th, then they cannot be batel. Shouldn’t we look at natural flavors as similar?
I would love to hear your thoughts as I question the stance of kashrut agencies on this matter.
Thank you
Eyden Zimbalist
If I may, another question that is relevant to the modern industrial food industry is regarding ביטול that a goy is allowed to do for himself even when he can’t do it for us. How did your father understand the situation of “giving hashgacha” to factories that rely on a leniency that we ourselves cannot do. I know that The Igrot Moshe says that even though it is allowed מעיקר הדין, it is considered a דבר מכוער and not recommended.
I understood from your father’s שו”ת that the issur to לבטל לכתחילה is a gzeirah so that we don’t come to mess up and be עובר על איסור דאורייתא בתערובת. Therefore if we can get around that like with a large Kli and a small amount of Issur as is quoted in The Shulchan Aruch or even if a goy does it without our intervention.
Please elaborate on the matter and again, thank you for your time.
The Issur of being Mevatel Issur Le’Chatchilah is a Knas (penalty). It would not apply to a non-Jew. It would not apply to a situation where the person doing it is not deliberately trying to be Mevatel Issur.
Understood. Thank you for your time.
Thank you for the thoughtful question. It is a fair one, and it deserves to be answered carefully, without conflating categories that halacha and law treat very differently.
As you noted, there is a well-known dispute between the Rambam and the Rashba regarding עבידא לטעמא, and the Noda BiYehuda explicitly sides with the Rambam, rejecting the idea that anything added for flavor automatically defeats bittul. The Rema’s discussion of spices is limited to recognizable, dominant, culinarily independent substances (such as pepper, cloves, garlic, etc.), not trace extracts or molecular isolates. That framework is important, because it defines the boundaries of the discussion.
The critical point, however, is whether modern “natural flavors” are halachically comparable to spices at all. My position—consistent with how my father, Rabbi Yitzhak Abadi זצ״ל, always ruled—is that they are not.
Halacha evaluates substances, not mere sensory impressions. There is a fundamental distinction between a food ingredient and a flavoring agent. If an actual food—such as butter, meat, shrimp, or bacon—is added to a product, it must be listed by its common name and is treated halachically as a food substance. By contrast, “natural flavors” are, by law and by function, derivative flavoring agents, used solely to influence taste and present in extremely small quantities. They are not foods in their own right, do not retain an independent culinary identity, and do not contribute substance or nutrition.
From both a legal and practical standpoint, it makes no sense for a manufacturer to “hide” real food ingredients under the label “natural flavors.” Any actual butter, meat, seafood, or dairy component must be declared, and allergens must be disclosed. Attempting to conceal such ingredients would expose a company to severe regulatory penalties and enormous civil liability. In practice, companies advertise real ingredients; they do not conceal them.
As you yourself pointed out, natural flavors are always present at less than shishim. Even before addressing broader conceptual issues, this alone distinguishes them from classic spices discussed by the Rema, which are halachically significant because they are recognizable, dominant, and culinarily substantial. According to the Rambam’s approach—explicitly adopted by the Noda BiYehuda—not every נותן טעם defeats bittul, and certainly not trace flavor compounds divorced from food substance.
For that reason, treating modern industrial flavor extracts as if they were traditional spices conflates categories that halacha itself keeps distinct. Taste alone does not create halachic significance, and trace flavoring agents do not constitute a דבר חשוב. This is why my father consistently held—and I maintain—that “natural flavors” do not pose a kashrut concern in the manner often imagined, and why blanket stringencies in this area reflect policy preferences rather than halachic necessity.