Halacha Challenge: Eating a Jelly Belly Candy

There was a great variety of desserts at the Goldberg’s Shabbos day seuda: cakes, cookies, pudding, grapes, watermelon, and even Jelly Belly candy.

Shmuli took a handful of jelly beans and put them on his plate. Shortly afterwards, he took one candy and was about to eat when his brother, Chaim yelled out, “Wait, Shmuli!”

Shmuli, while holding the jelly bean an inch from his mouth, turned to Chaim and asked, “What’s wrong?!”

“Look!” said Chaim, “That jelly bean has the words Jelly Belly written on it! If you’ll eat this candy, you’ll be erasing that writing! Erasing is the melacha of Mochek!”

Question: Can Shmuli eat the Jelly Belly candy now?

Answer: The Mishna Berura (340:17) rules that it is permitted to eat something that has writing on it.