The issue of ritual defilement is ultimately about unworthiness before God, and questions of meal-time acceptability lead away from what really matters. Recall the pictures used in the New Testament to describe good news. Some images use the language of accounting. We realize that we can never pay the enormous debt that we owe. However, it is paid by Christ, who balances the scales so we are free of our debts.
Some images use the language of a court room.
We walk out of the court room free because we're forgiven our sins. Still other images use the language of adoption. The orphan who has no home, no family, no name, and no standing is adopted by a father and placed in a family, becoming a son or daughter of God. All of this marvelous imagery helps to explain why the gospel is such good news. An additional salvation image is found in Mark 7.