Question: Should one recite the Shehakol blessing on chewing gum?
Answer: The Poskim of our generation discuss whether or not the Shehakol blessing should be recited on chewing gum, for when one chews gum, one does not swallow any of the actual gum in addition to the fact that the actual gum has no flavor of its own and the flavor is a result of various flavoring agents added to the gum. If so, it is doubtful if one should recite a blessing on such a thing or not.
Hagaon Harav Moshe Levi zt”l (one of the rabbinical teachers in Yeshivat Kisse Rachamim in Bnei Brak who was a tremendously diligent Torah scholar and passed away at an early age several years ago) writes in his Sefer Birkat Hashem that one should not recite any blessing on chewing gum. Although one does taste some flavor when one begins chewing the gum, nevertheless, this taste is considered neither eating nor drinking and one should thus recite no blessing.
He proceeds to support his opinion based on the words of the Magen Avraham (Chapter 567) regarding a public fast day, such as the Tenth of Tevet, during which one may not eat anything, yet one may, in fact, taste a food and then spit it out although one intends to enjoy it. This means that (according to the Magen Avraham) an individual who is fasting may taste a food but not swallow it although he certainly intends to enjoy it, for he tastes some of the foods taste when he places it in his mouth and it is impossible that not even a tiny amount of this food enters the body of the one who has placed it in his mouth; even so, since this is not the normal way of eating, one may do so on a fast day and this is not considered eating on a fast day.
The Sefer Birkat Hashem proves from here that one does not recite any blessing on chewing gum, for the law of tasting a food but not swallowing it is certainly equal to the law of chewing gum and if it permissible to taste food in the above manner on a fast day, one should likewise not recite a blessing on chewing gum. (The Hagahot Maimoni rules in accordance with the Magen Avraham’s opinion; although the Halacha does not follow this opinion with regards to a fast day, nevertheless, we must be concerned with their opinion with regards to blessing based on the rule, “When in doubt regarding a blessing, do not bless.”)
Nevertheless, Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l writes that the Magen Avraham’s opinion is not a proof, for the Magen Avraham himself writes regarding a public fast day that the reason why it is permissible to taste a food is because the individual fasting never had in mind to accept upon himself the fast under such stringent terms such that he will be unable to even taste a food in the aforementioned manner. Thus, since this is not the usual way of eating and is only considered tasting, this does not break the fast one must endure. Nevertheless, regarding the enjoyment one has from the food, the individual tasting certainly enjoys the food. Therefore, even according to the Magen Avraham’s opinion that one would be permitted to taste a food on a fast day, he would nonetheless be required to recite a blessing on this food since it is forbidden to derive “enjoyment” from this world without first reciting a blessing. The laws of blessings are not contingent on eating or tasting; rather, they are contingent on the enjoyment of one’s palate. Thus, since one chewing gum tastes some sweetness or other pleasant flavors and enjoys it, one must indeed recite a blessing on chewing gum.
Therefore, halachically speaking, one must recite the “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” blessing before chewing gum, for one may not benefit from this world without first reciting a blessing. Anyone who derives enjoyment from this world without reciting a blessing is tantamount to using consecrated items for a mundane purpose. Thus, one who chews gum derives enjoyment from its flavor and one must therefore recite a blessing before beginning to chew. This is indeed the consensus of the luminaries of our generation. The individual chewing may not speak until he tastes some of the gum’s flavor and swallows this flavor, in which case it will be considered as though he has begun eating at which point it becomes permissible to speak.
