33 replies to this topic

[kconf]

I would not think 2-3 mins of microwaving is intended to kill/reduce microorganisms. 

[GMO]

You'd be surprised. They're normally only blanched for quality purposes to retain colour not fully cooked. There have been multiple recalls of Listeria on frozen veg.

[kconf]

Then I am a culprit myself. 

What about onions? Are they safe? 

[GMO]

Chopped and frozen? Cross contact between soil and the onion itself is difficult to control in processing. Then when chopped they can be difficult to decontaminate because of the layers. Not impossible but difficult. Chopped, raw onions (not ex freeze) are often used in sandwiches in the UK but it's a sandwich I wouldn't feed to my 80 year old mother. 

 

Do me a favour. Grab a frozen bag of veg from your freezer and look at whether it explicitly gives instructions to eat without cooking or whether it tells you to cook first.

[GMO]

An example.

 

Great Value Frozen Sweet Peas 12 oz Steamable Bag, V E G E T A B L E S P E A S, No added chemicals - Walmart.com

 

Look at the front of bag "cook thoroughly". That's for a reason...

 

Same with this:

Great Value Frozen 10oz Chopped Onions, Vegetable, No Added Chemicals or Sugars - Walmart.com

 

From the American Frozen Food Institute:

 

Difference-Fruits-Veg-V5

Edited by GMO, Today, 05:17 PM.

[kconf]

I meant fresh (not frozen), raw, chopped onions. They are meant to be eaten raw in salad, right? 

[KTD]

Raw onion slices are almost standard in the US on hamburgers and other meat sandwiches.

McDonald's had a large FBI outbreak a coule years back traced to raw, diced onions on their burgers.

 

Swinging back to the Lipton Onion Soup mix in sour cream - are there any cooking or food safety statements on the box or packets? I grew up on that dip...

[GMO]

Raw onions can be buggy. Care needs to be taken in prep.

[jfrey123]

Peeling and cutting vegetables at the home level is pretty commonly safe.  Consumers are removing the exterior where contaminants live and consuming before any potential exterior micro contamination can spread and fester isn't much of a concern.

 

Peeling and cutting vegetables at the commercial level is pretty nasty.  Peeling one onion for your dinner isn't very risky.  Peeling and cutting 40,000lbs of onions brings a ton of risks.  Everything my company does with cutting fresh fruits and vegetables requires a wash after cutting, as we're breaching the exterior flesh of the produce and introducing contamination to the interior edible bits.  To the McD's comment, yes, cutting onions and shipping them afterward is a huge risk that we have to account for (but we weren't the ones who processing those onions for McD's, we just do similar work for retail sale).

 

To the comparison of broccoli to leafy greens prior:  broccoli is a bit more hearty/durable and can be washed with agitation prior to releasing for consumption.  But leafy greens are notorious for harboring salmonella or listeria, and the mechanized washing of leafy greens can break and tear the leaves.  Simply put, my company does cut fruit and veg trays in 9 facilities, and we as a