Now you know why I have had onions sitting around.  LOL

      Be sure to  read the red note at the bottom of the page. One can never be too cautious  and knowledgeable. 

      ONION

      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 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 this, he did find the flu virus  in the onion.  It obviously absorbed the  bacteria, therefore, keeping the family  healthy. 

       
      Now, I heard this story from my  hairdresser in AZ.  She said that several years ago many of her  employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her  customers.  The next year she 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 don't know about the farmers story...but, I do know that  I contacted pneumonia and needless to say I was very ill...I came across  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...sure enough it happened just like that...the  onion was a mess and I began to feel better.


      LEFT OVER ONIONS  ARE POISONOUS

      I have used an onion which has been left in the  fridge, and 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.. I  will buy smaller Onions in the future.  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 quaint 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 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.