What is the bracha for multigrain pringles. The first ingredient is rice flour. I assume they are baked, so shouldn’t that make them a Mezones with a Borei Nefashos after bracha?
Answer:
It appears that a shehakol should be made.
Sources:
The sefer Toras Ha-Berachah (p. 163; see p. 74) cites a dispute among authorities concerning products made from rice flour, after their form has entirely changed, and they cannot be recognized as a rice product. According to Rav Moshe Feinstein, the berachah is mezonos, whereas according to Rav Ben-Zion Abba Shaul the berachah is shehakol.
The rationale behind the ruling of the Or Le-Zion (Rav Abba Shaul) is that Chazal only gave the mezonos berachah for bread made of rice flour, but not for products that don’t have a visible connection to rice bread or related products.
It is noteworthy that from the Shulchan Aruch (208:7) and Mishnah Berurah (27) this distinciton does not emerge, though on the other hand it is not contradicted.
However, in our case it seems to be more correct to make a shehakol. Although rice flour is the first ingredient, this does not imply that it is the majority ingredient, and if it is a minory to other non-mezonos grains, the berachah will be shehakol. Therefore, it appears correct to make a shehakol.
If true mezonos grains are included in the ingredients, the berachah will be mezonos.
list of ingredients is the following : RICE FLOUR, VEGETABLE OIL (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: CORN OIL, COTTONSEED OIL, SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL), DRIED POTATOES, CORN FLOUR, MALTODEXTRIN, WHEAT STARCH, MODIFIED RICE STARCH, SUGAR, MONO- AND DI-GLYCERIDES, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, WHEAT BRAN, DRIED BLACK BEANS AND SALT.
Does Malted Barley Flour and wheat Bran count as true Mezonos Products? Since they are so late in the list I doubt that one gains taste or sustenance from them alone. Also, wheat bran is shehakol anyway…
I would say shehakol. As you note, the wheat/barley ingredients are way down the list, and their purpose is certainly not for their “food value” (leshem sovah).
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