These Costco, Aldi, And Kroger Onions Won't Make You Cry
Onions are a staple in everything from light salads to juicy burgers. They're an ingredient that can be eaten raw or cooked, and there are plenty of available onion varieties that all have a slightly different flavor.
But perhaps the most difficult part of eating onions is preparing them. If you have ever sliced or diced this veggie, you likely know that it can let out a pungent scent that almost immediately stings your eyes. This gets the tears flowing quickly, making cutting onions a difficult task for many people.
The reason onions make us cry isn't because of their strong scent, though. It's actually because of an irritant that gets released when onions are cut open. It's called syn-Propanethial-S-oxide, according to the Library of Congress, and it affects the eyes' lachrymal glands. Stimulating these glands ultimately causes the eyes to tear upon contact.
However, the days of crying over onions could be long gone, thanks to a new kind of cross-bred variety known as a Sunion.
These grocery store onions won't make you cry
Those who have been looking for an onion that won't induce tears might be in luck. It turns out that there is a specific onion — known as a "Sunion" — that actually won't make you cry upon slicing it open. According to the Sunions website, this particular onion variety was created over the course of 30 years, and took plenty of money and careful farming to create. Some may be surprised to hear that these onions were not genetically modified; they were created through a cross-breeding process.
These onions are special due to the way they age. Traditional onions contain pungent compounds that strengthen over time. With Sunions, those compounds actually become sweeter over time, which means that when the onion is sliced and the compounds are released, they won't cause tears to stream down your face.
These onions are grown right in the United States, specifically in Washington and Nevada, and every harvest is triple-tested to ensure that they do not produce tears. If you'd like to experience a Sunion for yourself, they're currently available in grocery stores such as Costco, Aldi, and Kroger.