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If, at some point in the future, ALL food is manufactured entirely from individual atoms and molecules, and made to look and taste like anything you want, would there be NO food restrictions for Jews whatsoever? In other words, Is there a halachic impediment to that?

Would all food that looks and tastes like treif and hametz be permitted?

I know similar questions have been asked before, but not when the resulting food has absolutely no connection to animals or to the real food chain.

Clarification. I am talking about a machine where you put, say, stones at one end, click on "bacon-cheeseburger", and out it comes at the other end, piping hot, with no way to distinguish it from the natural product. If this is too futuristic for you, remember that the future has a way of arriving long before you expect it.

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  • Are you suggesting a world where apples, wheat, cows, pigeons, etc. don't exist? Or just one where no one chooses to eat them regularly? – Double AA♦ Oct 19 '18 at 21:16
  • Where no one chooses to eat them regularly (perhaps because of a super-heightened sensitivity to destroying life in any of its forms). – Maurice Mizrahi Oct 19 '18 at 21:30
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    That doesn't seem that different from certain vegans nowadays. – Double AA♦ Oct 19 '18 at 21:39
  • It is. Fruits and vegetables are forms of life. – Maurice Mizrahi Oct 19 '18 at 21:41
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    Possible duplicate of Would synthesized meat be Kosher? – DonielF Oct 20 '18 at 18:20
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You nailed it. All Kashrut Mitzvot are מצוות קיומיות (Existential ?), meaning they are only kept IF (and only if) you bump into it, like the Mezuza - you only put it IF you live in a house etc, but if you live in the wilderness, you don't fulfill it.

Kashrut is kept IF you want to eat certain foods, like:

  • If you want to eat meat then slaughter it, prepare it accordingly etc.
  • If you want to eat fruits, make sure they are tithed, no Orleh, no bugs etc.
  • If you want to eat bread, make sure it's not the Pesach time etc.

Therefore with synthetic food, there are no Kashrut issues, as it does not answer the Halachic IFFS.

Notes:

  1. As you mentioned some food look-alikes are mildly forbidden as long as the society is not used to it. That was, for example, the case of various "Pesach Kosher rolls made of potato flour. So Haredis didn't touch it for a year or two, but eventually, it became a vital alternative and was sold freely in all Haredi supermarkets. Today you can find waffels, pies and whatnot Kosher for Passover.

  2. Mentioning Pesach, there's still a Mitzvah to eat a real Matzah on the Seder night, which has to be made of 5 sorts of grains. You can't synthesize a real Matzah!

  3. Also, meat and wine [as a Mitzvah] on Shabbos seem to have to be real (not taste-alikes).

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  • If a person doesn't eat; they die...also, how can something be "mildly" forbidden? I don't think you are studied enough on the issue to answer so flatly that there are no problems...it's easy to say so, but it has to be true. There are gedolim that have arguments on the topic. How is it so clear to you? You could say "theoretically". – chacham Nisan Oct 20 '18 at 18:04
  • @chachamNisan 1. THere's no Mitzvah of eating (besides what I mentioned in notes) 2. By mildly I mean "one is advised to abstain from", it is not really forbidden by itself. 3 If you know of anything contradicting my answer, please post your answer, but don't blindly critic mine. And I studied just enough to answer such a question. – Al Berko Oct 20 '18 at 18:12
  • Do you know how they make synthetic foods? – chacham Nisan Oct 20 '18 at 18:15
  • @chachamNisan You should note that this is a theoretical question. The method of the synthesis can make the (meat) product fleishig, or parve. See the duplicate of this question. – sabbahillel Oct 21 '18 at 1:02
  • Therefore with synthetic food, there are no Kashrut issues, as it does not answer the Halachic IFFS. How do you know this to be true? Synthetic food is made from something. Simply stating it doesn't have any halachic issues isn't necessary true and is therefore just an assumption – Dude Oct 21 '18 at 1:28

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