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Rav Pappa thus distinguishes between a barley-sized amount of forbidden fat, which results only in the butcher’s removal from his position, and an olive-sized amount, which also results in flogging. The distinction between these two cases can be understood in two ways:
A. The severity of the result. When an olive-sized amount of forbidden fat remains on the animal’s meat, a more serious stumbling block has been created, since this is a substantial quantity of prohibited food, one whose consumption could even generate liability for a sin-offering.
B. The severity of the negligence. A butcher who leaves behind a barley-sized amount of forbidden fat is negligent and therefore unfit for his position. But a butcher who leaves behind an olive-sized amount is apparently someone who deliberately treats the prohibition of chelevwith contempt and consequently deserves flogging.
Our daf becomes much more interesting if read not merely as a technical discussion of chelev, but as a halakhic theory of professional ethics, deception, negligence, and sanctions.
The key distinction is between what kind of person/professional the butcher has shown himself to be and what harm or risk his conduct has actually created.