And I Thought It Was Just An Onion!

My friend Mary, hates onions and knows I love them...so she sent me an eyeopening email yesterday. It was about onions and quite fascinating. Fascinating enough that I had to post it for my readers and let them in on this medical breakthrough. Did you know that in 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many died. The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone in his household was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did put it under the microscope, he could not believe his eyes. You see, the flu virus was in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy. A beauty shop operator in New Zealand thought she would test this theory and placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. (And no, she is not in the onion business.) I guess the moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens. If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case.
Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eventhough I didn't know about the farmer's story I actually had read an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end on a fork and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs. I have never tried this but I might. Historically, onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years. Obviously these two smelly foods do more than just ward off vampires. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

That part of the email was interesting. The part that scared me to death was that I did not know leftover onions are poisonous. Did you? I personally have used an onion which has been left in the fridge, I mean come on.... sometimes I don't use a whole one at one time, so save the other half for later. Now with this info, I have changed my mind.....will buy smaller onions in the future. According to the original author of this email, "...she 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. Her 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 her the tour was 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. I cater with Deborah and when we clean up after a wedding, anything with cream cheese or mayonanaise is history. It turns out lots of people are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer was surprising. 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 quintessential picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick. Ed went on to say 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 said 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!) Hummm...I wondered at the last Biscuit game I went to why my stomach hurt so much...I thought it was the gigantic footlong, the popcorn, the biscuit...and all the while...it was probably the onion. Amazing! Anyways, Ed went on to say that 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.' Oh and one more thing..dogs should never eat onions(not that Beau would). Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions ...Please remember it is dangerous to cut onions and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates Toxic bacteria which may cause Adverse Stomach infections because of excess Bile secretions and even Food poisoning. And that is your food lesson for the day....
and on that note....have a Happy Saturday. I know I am going to. Frank is off today, and the roads are icy...so I am going to lay around with my sweet hubby and watch the Winter Olympics.