Hazardous Onions from Mexico

I like onions which may be why this story caught my eye.

At home, don't eat green onions without thoroughly cooking them. In restaurants, ask if salads, salsas or other menu items contain raw or lightly cooked green onions. If they do, order something else.

That's the advice of federal health authorities in light of three deaths and more than 500 cases of hepatitis A, the largest outbreak in U.S. history, centered on a Chi-Chi's chain Mexican restaurant in Pennsylvania in October and November...

...the National Restaurant Association advised its 60,000 members and the 300,000 restaurants they operate to stop using Mexican green onions, or to cook them thoroughly, or to find alternative sources.



As the article points out, hepatitis A is far less deadly than hepatitis B or C. It's fatal in only 0.4 percent of cases, mostly among the elderly. Even so, I think I will avoid Mexican onions for a while. I wonder what other produce from Mexico might be contaminated? After all, those who work in the fields harvesting onions may also harvest other crops.

 
 
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