One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Another Reason to Sharpen Your Knife Skills: Pre-Sliced Onions Recalled for Listeria
(Photo credit: Krista Simmons/LAist)
Anthony Bourdain once warned that it's the sense of sheer stupidity that hurts more than actually slicing your finger when chopping up mise en place. Though we're sure that the nearly dismembered Missy from Top Chef Masters -- who nearly lobbed off her finger with a mandolin on last Wednesday's premiere -- might disagree, you'll be feeling really stupid if you catch listeria because you were too lazy to slice your own onions.
It might sound extreme, but that's what could happen if you're used to buying pre-prepped produce. A massive recall has been placed on Gill's Onions, who specializes in diced, diced, slivered and whole-peeled onions and celery mix.
As trained cooks, seeing those pre-packaged mirepoix tubs at TJ's always got us ticked off. Why bother paying so much extra just to have your veggies sliced up for you? Not to mention the added level of contamination that comes along with that. Each step that's added in processing means another risk for someone's dirty paws or equipment to tarnish it. (Same goes for pre-broken down chickens, but that's another post altogether.)
As it turns out, it's not just TJ's pre-diced onions that are in trouble. It's a heck of a lot more. Says Huffington Post :
Gills Onions, which provides diced, slivered and whole-peeled onions and celery mix to several companies, has called a voluntarily recall on those products with a use-by date of August 3 or before, citing a possible listeria contamination. Several outlets are reporting affected products, which now include items sold in some Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Weis, Publix and Wegman's stores across Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington, plus Canadian provinces Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
Here's a comprehensive list from the FDA to check your fridge against.
Sponsored message
Our advice: Take a knife skills class at Sur la Table. It'll save you money, and maybe even your health.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
