Q&A: A Worm-Infested Lettuce
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A Worm-Infested Lettuce
Question
At the beginning of section 100, the Taz writes that a whole creature in a mixture is only rabbinically prohibited (and one does not receive lashes), with a practical implication in a case of doubt.
Would a worm that is visible on lettuce or on a strawberry be considered a mixture, so that the entire prohibition would be only rabbinic?
Answer
A whole creature is not nullified only by rabbinic law, according to all opinions. But I am not sure it is correct to view a worm in a fruit as a mixture and apply the law of nullification there. Simply speaking, this is not a mixture. And if it is visible, then certainly this is not a mixture.
There in the Taz, it seems explicit to me that a whole creature is a Torah-level prohibition even if it is less than an olive-bulk.
It is only the mixture that is rabbinic, because by Torah law it is nullified.