# PSA: Onions recalled in multiple states and Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 22, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001 "2021-10-22T14:46:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/1 "2021-10-22T14:46:33Z")
Throw 'em out folks: > **[Onions linked to Salmonella outbreak recalled from states across the US and...](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2021/10/onions-linked-to-salmonella-outbreak-recalled-from-states-across-the-us-and-canada/)** > > ProSource Produce LLC of Hailey, ID, is recalling whole raw onions (red, yellow and white) shipped from Chihuahua, Mexico, between July 1, 2021, and Aug. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/2 "2021-10-22T14:56:40Z")
Thanks for posting this. I’ve already sent it my friends and family living in states affected. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/3 "2021-10-22T14:58:29Z")
Yeah… I don’t know why I said “all 50 states”. Corrected title. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/4 "2021-10-22T20:26:16Z")
Apparently Quebec and Ontario are included, but no one in Canada has yet been reported sick. I have a white onion in the fridge of unknown provenance (it has no sticker on it – onions usually don’t) and I think I’m going to go ahead and use it. It was purchased loose, not in a labeled bag or carton, so it’s impossible to know where it came from, but the chances that it came through the US at all, let alone originating in Chihuahua, are pretty small. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/5 "2021-10-22T20:28:35Z")
Making a roast tonight, so I had to go shopping. I almost picked up a white onion, but I looked at it and some vague alarm bell went off in my head. Looks like we’re having dried, diced onions tonight. Thanks for the heads-up! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/6 "2021-10-22T20:31:05Z")
Won’t roasting the onions kill any salmonella? Chicken is often contaminated with salmonella too, but after you cook it it’s fine. Just treat the cutting board and knife like you cut raw meat on them and you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/7 "2021-10-22T20:35:09Z")
Good point. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/8 "2021-10-22T20:57:48Z")
Doing some more Googling, I see there was another onion-related salmonella scare back in August of last year, this one causing hundreds of Canadians getting sick due to onions from a source in Bakersfield, California. I wasn’t even aware of that one, and survived! The good news for those in Ontario and Quebec (currently the only places that might have some of the contaminated Chihuahua onions) is that, at least when it’s seasonal, most onions come from domestic crops. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/9 "2021-10-23T13:35:08Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Won’t roasting the onions kill any salmonella? Chicken is often contaminated with salmonella too, but after you cook it it’s fine. This is what I was wondering. I use white and yellow onions all the time but I usually cook them in soups and stews and such. The only onions I typically eat raw are red onions and scallions. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/10 "2021-10-25T16:49:19Z")
The [FDA’s food safety page on Salmonella says](https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/think-food-safety-and-be-salmonella-safe#safe) “Cook all food to the proper temperature”, with a link to safe cooking temps. Since Salmonella is most often associated with chicken, and the safe temp for chicken is 165 degrees, I assume as long as your onions get to an internal temp of 165 degrees, you’re fine. They definitely will in a soup, which will be near boiling, or a roast that’s cooking a big chunk of meat, since they are smaller than the meat. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/11 "2021-10-25T17:08:40Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > The [FDA’s food safety page on Salmonella says](https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/think-food-safety-and-be-salmonella-safe#safe) “Cook all food to the proper temperature”, with a link to safe cooking temps. But an additional concern, as always with bacterial contamination, is not just the bacteria itself but the possibility that it may have produced toxins; a lot of food poisoning is not from bacteria but from the toxic byproducts. According to the paper below (Section 3.2, Toxins) salmonella can produce both exotoxins (toxins exuded into the material) and endotoxims (toxins internal to the bacteria itself). Heat kills bacteria but can’t nullify toxins. Fresh chicken within its best-by date that may have salmonella can likely be rendered safe by proper cooking, but not necessarily stuff that’s been contaminated and hanging around too long. I have no idea how relevant this is to onions, though. [https://academic.oup.com/femspd/article/44/3/251/498396](https://academic.oup.com/femspd/article/44/3/251/498396) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/12 "2021-10-25T21:00:49Z")
Good point. All the info I can find on Salmonella largely refers to “infections”, so I assume that toxins are not the primary issue, but they may still be dangerous in some cases. If large shipments of onions are Salmonella contaminated, it seems _very_ likely to me that the contamination is largely on the outside, not like infecting the interior onion flesh itself (if salmonella could generally infect and grow in onions, we’d have bigger problems, so I still think it’s highly likely that treating onions like raw chicken for food prep (don’t reuse knives or cutting boards, wash your hands, cook it thoroughly) is going to be very low risk. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/13 "2021-10-25T21:11:19Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > They definitely will in a soup, which will be near boiling, or a roast that’s cooking a big chunk of meat, since they are smaller than the meat. A big one that most people outside of the food-service industry aren’t going to think about is something stuffed inside something else. For example, if you have stuffing inside a turkey, in addition to making sure the turkey is fully cooked, you should also be temping the stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/14 "2021-10-27T00:20:07Z")
I was doing some errands tonight and considered grabbing a hot dog or maybe a couple tacos and remembered the recall. What are restaurants doing and when can it be considered all clear? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-onions-recalled-in-multiple-states-and-canada/953001/15 "2021-10-27T12:15:20Z")
I believe the all clear has been given. The articles states it’s only onions from certain suppliers, in certain states and between certain dates. You can buy all the onions you want now.