Particularly in the case of tiny bugs on plants, fruits, and vegetables. Why are they not considered batul bshishim since they are obviously not there on purpose (or desirable) and they make up a tiny part of the food.
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yeshiva.org.il/wiki/…– YishaiJul 31, 2017 at 15:38
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60 is lrarned from zroa beshela and regsrds taste. Including bugs taste. grnarally this taste is bad and noten taam lifgam and doesn't prohibit even 1+/2– koutyJul 31, 2017 at 16:54
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betel for objects has other laws– koutyJul 31, 2017 at 16:54
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@kouty Mimah nafshach - if nosein ta'am lifegam is assur, it's subject to the same rules of bitul as everything else, 1/2 for min b'mino and 1/60 for min b'she'eino mino. If nosein ta'am lifegam is mutar (which is how we pasken l'halacha), then why do you need bitul at all?– DonielFJul 31, 2017 at 17:03
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2@DonielF no, ....!– koutyJul 31, 2017 at 18:42
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2 Answers
There is a special rabbinic law which says a בריה, any living thing in it's entirety, cannot become nullified due to it's being special in a sense. You can see more about this in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah siman 100.
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1Are bugs sitting on a leaf really subject to this? They aren't mixed in at all. They're just sitting there.– Double AA ♦Jul 31, 2017 at 15:41
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1@DoubleAA if they are not considered mixed in the question doesn't start, because 1:60 is a rule of mixtures.– Dov FJul 31, 2017 at 16:26
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1@DovF If so that might be an answer, but it doesn't justify this post. (I'm not saying this post can't be justified, but it's taking for granted that there is a mixture here, which isn't obvious.)– Double AA ♦Jul 31, 2017 at 16:27
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@DoubleAA I suspect you meant to post your original comment under the question, because as an answer user6951's seems complete. If the questioner's question is not based on a faulty assumption, this answer answers it completely.– Dov FJul 31, 2017 at 16:38
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1@DovF No this answer is not complete. It doesn't justify applying this rule to the OP's case. If I post an answer that Chatikha HaReuyah Lehitkabbed isn't nullified, that wouldn't be useful unless I show why that applies in this case.– Double AA ♦Jul 31, 2017 at 16:43
In the US, there are acceptable limits to such things as insect parts, rodent hair, and parasites in fish, per FDA regulation. These levels are far below "shishim", but are unavoidable today and are probably far lower today than they were historically. Over six decades ago my (eminent) rabbi (z"l), answered a phone call from a hysterical congregant, who just read that the M&Ms she had bought and consumed contained gelatin and had no hekhsher (to this day I have not checked to see whether M&Ms did then, or do today, contain gelatin, I just rely on his ruling). Now, gelatin is of course animal collagen broken-down by heat, likely from a cow or a pig slaughtered commercially. Rabbi G. assured her that shishim applied, both because of the low levels used and the chemical reduction of the collagen from which it was derived. So she noshed happily ever after. Before synthetic heparin became available, folks got it extracted from some part of a slaughtered pig, likewise some useful medicines from the pituitary gland of a pig. And I know of a fellow whose life was saved by a pig's artery or vein transplanted to his heart (of course, it was not eaten(!!), and I guess medicines are not really "eaten" even if consumed, since they are a pikuakh nefesh necessity). Shishim has always seemed to me a very useful accommodation of halakha to reality.
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Welcome to Mi Yodeya A! Unfortunately, I dont see how this answers the question about insects in particular. Maybe shishim applies to, and maybe it doesn't, but nothing in this post addresses it.– mevaqeshJul 31, 2017 at 22:12