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Avos D’Rebbi Nassan 26:5 says (translation is from Artscroll, and brackets are from their footnotes):

הוא היה אומר האוכל אוכלין שאינם עולים על גופו עובר משום ג' לאוין שביזה את עצמו וביזה את האוכלין ומברך ברבה שאינה כתיקונה

He used to say: One who eats foods that do not agree with his body [that is, he eats food that is repulsive to him] commits three transgressions: (1) He has demeaned himself [i.e. he has caused himself to become disgusted, and thereby transgressed the prohibition (Leviticus 11:43), Do not make yourselves abominable], (2) he has degraded the foods that he ate [and thereby violated the prohibition (Deuteronomy 20:19), Do not destroy... This applies to any destructive or wasteful act. Since a different person who is not repulsed by the foods could have benefited from them, this person is considered to have wasted food], and (3) he has recited a blessing improperly.

I’d never heard of this before, and as such, was wondering if this Braisa is ruled in Halacha.

  1. Is one really not supposed to make a Beracha on food one doesn’t like? If so, if one eats a particular food for the first time and therefore isn’t sure if he will like it or not, should he make a Beracha, since we’re lenient on a doubt by Berachos (or, perhaps, eat another food he does like that would have the same Beracha)?
  2. Are parents in violation of לפני עור for feeding their kids food they don’t like (read: vegetables)?

Particularly for the second question above leaves me wondering whether we don’t pasken like this Braisa. Looking for actual sources in the Poskim.

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  • Consider YD 116:6
    – Double AA ♦
    Feb 24, 2019 at 1:28
  • @DoubleAA אסור לאכול מאכלים ומשקים שנפשו של אדם קצה בהם? Given that the examples all involve vomit, excrement, and the like, I’m not sure that can be extended to include things which only a specific person doesn’t like. Perhaps בל תשקצו only applies to things which are normally agreed are disgusting.
    – DonielF
    Feb 24, 2019 at 1:31
  • If you don't like, don't eat it. But if you must eat it for some reason, you can always say Baruch Dayan Ha-Emet (which is said upon hearing of a good person's death). My point: You say berachot even for bad things.
    – Maurice Mizrahi
    Feb 24, 2019 at 21:32
  • @MauriceMizrahi But do you make a Birchas Hanehenin - literally, a blessing on benefit - on food one doesn’t like? Also, according to that logic, why don’t you make a Beracha on treif (assuming one isn’t sick or the like that it’s permitted if not obligatory to eat treif)?
    – DonielF
    Feb 24, 2019 at 21:33
  • I personally don't like any wine, but can't really abstain because there are so many kiddushes. I do say boreh peri haggafen, but I wonder...
    – Maurice Mizrahi
    Feb 24, 2019 at 21:34

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Here is a relevant opinion by Rabbis Yair Spolter and Shraga Simmons on Aish: "Only pleasant-tasting foods require a bracha. Food eaten only for health reasons that are not pleasurable to eat, require no bracha." The whole article is worth reading.

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    And the other half of the question? Is it בל תשקצו and בל תשחית?
    – DonielF
    Feb 24, 2019 at 21:47

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