It turns out that the Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak from a previously unknown food source actually has an onion ring to it.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcement today, fresh whole red, white, and yellow onions are the likely source of an outbreak that has left at least 652 people sick and 129 hospitalized across 37 states. Before you go on a tear and discard all of your onions, keep in mind that this outbreak appears to have a specific onion source: ProSource Produce, LLC.
Here’s a tweet from the CDC about this outbreak update:
As a result, ProSource has issued a recall. The recall includes all whole raw onions (red, yellow, and white) that this Hailey, Idaho-headquartered distributor imported from Chihuahua, Mexico from July 1 to August 31, 2021. So if you hear the word “Chihauhau” after the words “onion from,” you may want to ask some more questions.
Of course, it may not be obvious that your onions are from Chihuahua. A fast food joint may not say, “and would you like some onions from ProSource and Chihuahua on your hamburger?” Plus, the affected onions may be sold under brand names such as Big Bull, Peak Fresh Produce, Sierra Madre, Markon First Crop., Markon Essentials, Rio Blue, ProSource, Rio Valley, and Sysco Imperial.
Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement did indicate that “this voluntary recall is being conducted out of an abundance of caution,” as opposed to “a scarcity of caution” or “just a little bit of caution.” It’s unlikely that all onions from this supplier within that date range were contaminated with Salmonella. However, it’s not good idea to play diarrhea roulette. So if you’ve got onions originating from Chihuahua, Mexico, that match the description above, either throw them out or return them for a full refund.
The Forbes
