A Tale of Two Onion Experiences Did You Know?
The average American eats 20 lbs of onions every year.
Over 450 semi-truckloads of onions are eaten everyday.
o When an onion is cut, it releases chemicals that mix together and react with each other.
This reaction causes a gas to be released that irritates the eyes.
Read the following scenario:
Maria asks Terrance if he has any easy recipes she can cook when she goes on her big
camping trip. Terrance shares his recipe for campfire stew. When Maria glances at the
ingredient list she says, "Oh no. This won't work. I brought onions on our trip last summer. It was
such a hot and miserable day anyway. Then I had to sit cutting onions at the picnic table. My
eyes watered so much I could barely see what I was doing!"
Terrance looks at her surprised and says, We use this recipe every November when we do our
last trip of the season. It is almost too cold to have my fingers out of my gloves to cook, but I
choose this recipe BECAUSE it's one of the only times I can cut up an onion without my eyes
watering. I always figured that the fresh air outside helped to keep my eyes from watering."
Let's assume that Maria and Terrance react to onions in a similar way, what else could be
causing the difference in their experience?