The latest food recall: onions

I don’t often write about foodborne illness outbreaks because there are so many of them, but this one is unusual: it involves hundreds of people who got sick from eating onions produced by Thomson International.

The CDC says:

Do not eat, serve, or sell recalled onions from Thomson International, Inc., or food made with these onions. Onion types include red, white, yellow, and sweet yellow varieties. Other companies have also issued recalls of foods, like chicken salads, made with recalled onions.

The caseload so far:

The states where cases have been identified:

The timeline of case reports:

And here’s why there is such a long lag in reporting cases:

Advice: Make sure your onions don’t come from Thomson.  If you aren’t sure, thoroughly wash (sterilize!) everything they may have come in contact with (knives, cutting boards, refrigerator bins).  If you don’t want to throw them out, cook them.  Do not eat them raw.