Chapter 50: 7-9
Blessings Before Eating

7. A person who tastes food to see if it requires salt and the like, and then spits it out, need not recite a blessing. However, if he swallows it, there is a doubt whether he is required to recite a blessing - since he swallowed food - or he is free of that obligation - since, his intention was not to eat. Accordingly, when tasting food, it is proper to intend to benefit from it as food, and thus recite a blessing and swallow it.

8. The following rules apply when a person eats or drink food for medicinal purposes: If the food is tasty and the person enjoys it, he should recite the appropriate blessings before and after the foods. This applies even if the food would normally be prohibited. Since, at present, the Torah permits him to eat it, he must recite a blessing for it. If the food is bitter and one does not enjoy it, a blessing need not be recited before partaking of it.

A person who swallows a raw egg for the benefit of his voice must recite a blessing. Even though he does not benefit from its taste, he benefits from its nutritional qualities, for it does nourish him.

9. If something gets stuck in a person's throat and he drinks beverages other than water or eats bread or other foods which he enjoys in order to be able to swallow it, he must recite a blessing before and after partaking of them. However, if he is not thirsty and drinks water only for the sake of swallowing something stuck in his throat or for other purposes, he need not recite a blessing. [The sages rendered this decision because] a person benefits from water only when he drinks it to quench his thirst.

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