Pas Yisroel - Mashed Potatoes

QUESTION: I am careful to eat only Pas Yisroel. My neighbor made me mashed potatoes that were thickened with breadcrumbs that were Pas palter (made by a non-Jewish baker). May I eat the mashed potatoes?

ANSWER: Shulchan Shulchan Aruch (YD 112:14-15) writes that Pas akum (bread that is not pas Yisroel) is nullified with a simple majority (batel b’rov). Although in general the rule is that most non-kosher food becomes nullified only if mixed into sixty times their volume (batel b’shishim), pas akum is an exception. The Rama writes that this is true whether the mixture is dry or liquid. However, one who is careful not to eat Pas palter may not intentionally add it to a mixture in order to permit it. In this case, since the neighbor did not realize that this would be an issue and already nullified the breadcrumbs, they are now permitted for anyone to eat. Incidentally, the beracha on the mashed potatoes would remain Ha’adama; even though it contains breadcrumbs, since they were added only as a thickener, they do not change the beracha to Mezonos or Hamotzi.

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