6

I typically try to buy organic onions. Recently the only organic onions that are available are already peeled (i.e., have the outer papery skin removed).

Why is this being done?

Presumably there is a cost to peeling the onions for the consumer so there must be a benefit either for the consumer (although none comes to mind) or during the processing of the onions.

Aaronut
  • 54,811
  • 24
  • 191
  • 303
DQdlM
  • 701
  • 2
  • 9
  • 14
  • 2
    I have never, ever seen or heard of onions being sold whole but pre-pealed. It sounds... unlikely... to be a good practice. – SAJ14SAJ Mar 08 '13 at 01:35
  • Is the outer layer still a bit dry and thin, so you still have to remove something? – Cascabel Mar 08 '13 at 01:40
  • @Jefromi no the outer layer is just as you would find it under the dry paper skin if you peeled it yourself. It is fleshy like the normally edible part. I usually peel off the first layer before using them though. – DQdlM Mar 08 '13 at 02:29
  • 5
    My local grocery store does this too. Very strange. I avoid them. Onion skin is nature's wrapper. I don't want random people groping my onion flesh. – Preston Mar 08 '13 at 04:52
  • Are you sure that these onions are not just fresh and have not yet developed the dried skin? – Henrik Söderlund Mar 08 '13 at 11:47
  • 1
    @HenrikSöderlund In my grocery store you can tell that they were peeled. There is no dirt. They are "wet" to the touch. You can sometimes see where some of the paper is still attached. I've always found it very odd. – Preston Mar 08 '13 at 13:05
  • Ask the produce manager for some unpeeled organic onions. They surely don't store the onions peeled, but do it as they're arranging the produce. It would be very surprising if they didn't have sacks of unpeeled organic onions in the back of the store. – Caleb Mar 08 '13 at 14:52
  • @HenrikSöderlund they are sold as "peeled" onions. – DQdlM Mar 08 '13 at 15:04
  • 1
    Could be a method of cleaning up onions with mold on the surface. Here in US, last summers drought seems to have impacted the onion crop, and those available are neither the size nor quality they should be this time of year. – Wayfaring Stranger Mar 08 '13 at 15:13
  • @Wayfaring Stranger I venture that they HAVE been treated against mold at some link in the chain. Plenty of 'organic' bio-cides allowed these days – Pat Sommer Mar 08 '13 at 17:16
  • @SAJ14SAJ we used to get pre-peeled onions in 25 and 50 lb bags, but that was from a produce purveyor. I've never seen them pre-peeled in the grocery store, but there really isn't a reason *not* to do it. – Mike G Mar 08 '13 at 19:13
  • @Mong134 Was that in a professional setting where they would have been used in a day or three at the most? I have *never* seen that in a home setting, and it seems it would be a very poor thing for the shelf life of the onion. – SAJ14SAJ Mar 08 '13 at 19:20
  • @SAJ14SAJ it was a professional setting, and sometimes we would go through a bag or two in a day, but typically it was more like a week before we'd go through the entire bag. – Mike G Mar 08 '13 at 19:22

4 Answers4

6

Combination new technology and an excuse to charge more.

It seems to be a 'value added' feature driven by new technology in processing harvested onions and the 'convenience' of not having to peel the Onion.

According to fruit today this is a growing market. As others have noted sometimes Organic means an excuse to charge more. Peeled onion aids that front.

MandoMando
  • 9,581
  • 7
  • 32
  • 60
5

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no. I think it's an excuse to increase the price of these "premium" groceries.

Similarly, pre-sliced mushrooms and pre-diced celery are available in my local grocery store at a premium price. Added processing adds extra cost of production and therefore price to the consumer.

In the case of onions, I think this is a marketing gimmick to make these veggies seem fancier. I cannot think of any benefit for storage.

It may also be an issue of product differentiation. Meaning, it makes the organic onions easily recognizable in a room full of other, similar onions.

Preston
  • 3,825
  • 3
  • 30
  • 48
  • 1
    For some people, the convenience of not having to slice and dice is worth paying a little bit for. It may seem trivial to you, but it's not just a marketing gimmick. Peeling onions isn't really on the same scale; it doesn't take anyone very long. – Cascabel Mar 08 '13 at 15:03
  • That's true @Jefromi. I do sometimes buy pre-sliced mushrooms if they are priced similarly to their whole counterparts for ease of prep. I'll edit the answer accordingly. – Preston Mar 08 '13 at 15:41
4

I don't think there's a good reason for it. It might make the onions look prettier to some people, and look convenient (pre-peeled!), but it's not like that saves you any significant amount of time, and it leaves them vulnerable to damage and drying out faster.

Cascabel
  • 58,065
  • 24
  • 178
  • 319
  • 1
    Particularly true for red or white onions, which are a very attractive purple and snow white respectively when peeled. Put them next to some leafy greens and carrots, and you might really increase sales of all of those items. – Caleb Mar 08 '13 at 14:50
3

Sometimes we see peeled onions at our local farmer markets. I have asked several vendors about this and most said it is a result of trying to make sure every particle of soil is washed from the onion. Many of them use vegetable scrub brushes and those automatically rub away the skins during the scrubbing process. One vendor said some people grow in more dense and clay-like soil and will need a vigorous scrubbing process. Some vendors are also concerned about passing along any soil-born contaminant so they not only scrub the skins off but also dip in a very weak bleach solution.

One vendor said he took the skins off because the Hmong vendors in our area did so and their onions looked so clean and shiny. This vendor said he did it to be competitive in that market.

I grow my own onions so I've never purchased any with the skins off.

Badger Granny
  • 31
  • 1