If one hears a bracha while he is eating, is he exempt from answering Umein, due to the danger of speaking while eating?
Is he exempt if he hasn’t swallowed the food yet, and he is machmir not to speak after the bracha rishona until after he swallows the food?
Answer:
In both cases he is exempt.
However, in the first case (while eating), if his personal custom is to speak while eating (many do), and this does not endanger him (true for most people today), then he should also answer amen while eating.
In the second case, he should refrain from answer amen, in deference to many Poskim who write that one should not speak before swallowing the food.
Best wishes.
Sources:
Concerning interrupting before swallowing see Mishna Berurah (167:35) and Sha’ar Hatziun (167:30). See also Yabia Omer (5:16) who writes that one can answer Kaddish and Kedusha based on the lenient opinions, but this will not apply to regular answering of Amen.
