Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Egg Pilaf

July 9, 2026

Q Can I leave egg salad in the fridge to eat for breakfast?

A The Gemara says (Nidah 17a) that someone who eats garlic, onion, or egg that sat peeled overnight is liable to pay with his life and is held accountable for his death. This is not a matter of issur but sakanah, as Chazal revealed hidden dangers caused by ruach ra’ah. The Rishonim and early Acharonim say that some of these dangers do not exist today, but those that do are codified by the poskim.

This particular sakanah is not mentioned by the Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, or Rama. But it is cited by later poskim including the Shulchan Aruch Harav (Hilchos Shmiras Haguf 7) and the Chafetz Chaim (Likutei Halachos, Nidah ibid.).

Some have suggested that there is danger only if the foods are cooked (see Shu”t Bais Shlomo Y.D. 1:189). But this distinction is not widely accepted by the poskim (ibid.; see also Igros Moshe Y.D. 3:20, who doesn’t mention the leniency).

Many later poskim write that there is no sakanah if the egg was left mixed with another ingredient (Bais Shlomo ibid.). R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos Vehanhagos 3:256) cites views that this works even with an admixture of only 2%, but he expresses reservations where there is too little of it to be noticed or if it is invisible, like salt or sugar. In another teshuvah (4:186) he notes that in Shabbos meals one may be lenient because of the rule that (Kohelless 8:5) “shomer mitzvah lo yeida davar ra (he who obeys a mitzvah will know no evil).”

The Gemara says that if the hairy root of the onion or garlic or a bit of eggshell remained attached, there is no danger.