Watch Out For Those Onions.....

I have the habit of putting 1/2 an onion into the fridge for further use when I made some sandwiches. But after reading this forwarded info from a friend I will think twice about it especially if it is to be eaten raw. Here is to spread the news.


"I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers
of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and
sisters in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.

Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what
I learned from a chemist.

The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers.
Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce
formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's.

Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone
asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always
worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you.
Ed said that all commercially-made Mayo is completely safe.

"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it,
but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set
at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He
then talked about the quint essential picnic, with the bowl of potato
salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when
someone gets sick.

Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the
officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where
those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the
mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the
outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the
POTATOES.

He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria,
especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to
keep a portion of a sliced onion. He says it's not even safe if you
put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator. It's already
contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can
be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in
your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll
probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put
on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist
potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any
commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

So, how's that for news? Take it for what you will. I (the author) am going to
be very careful about my onions from now on. For some reason, I see a
lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a company, that produces
millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.'

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot
metabolise onions. "

Written by Zola Gorgon - author of several cookbooks.. Watch out for those spoiled onions...