Can You Taste Food While Fasting? The Simple Rule That Everyone Gets Wrong

Tasting food with the tongue while fasting — if nothing of it is swallowed — does not invalidate the fast, even if, by accident, it reaches the throat. However, if one knows from the outset that it will inevitably reach the throat involuntarily, the fast is invalid and one must make it up (qada) and pay expiation (kafāra).

Does tasting food invalidate the fast?

Tasting food and similar acts, which ordinarily do not reach the throat, do not break the fast even if they accidentally do reach the throat. But if a person knows from the beginning that it will reach the throat involuntarily, then the fast is invalid and they must perform the qada and expiation (kafāra).

Here are some important points on this matter:

• If nothing is swallowed: Tasting food with the tongue — provided nothing of it is swallowed — does not invalidate the fast.

• If it reaches the throat unintentionally: If, without intention, some of what was tasted reaches the throat, there is no problem (the fast is not invalidated).

• If one knows from the start it will reach the throat: If one knows from the outset that, without voluntary action, what they taste will reach the throat, then the fast is invalid and they must make it up (qada) and expiate (kafāra).

For more precise rulings according to your own marja‘ (religious reference), you can consult the treatises (risāla) of the marāji‘ (religious authorities)