25. Lately, many people prepare acai bowls. These are made from a type of small, purple berry native to South America. They are blended into a puree and used for healthy dishes, topped with other cut-up fruit.
26. Blended by a Jew. The acai fruit itself is commonly infested, but it is served blended. Thus, if a Jew buys acai berries and blends it himself, he must ensure they are assumed to be not infested, in which case blending helps. If, however, they are assumed to be infested, a Jew may not blend them due to the rule that one may not nullify issur l’chatchila.
27. By a non-Jew. However, when one buys acai berries that have already been blended by non-Jews and makes a dish out of the puree, we rely on the fact that even if there were insects, they are botul b’shishim and do not have the status of a briyah since the insects were crushed when the non-Jews blended the berries.
