Scientists Develop 'Tearless' Onions after 20 Years of Research

  • 8 years ago
If you've ever cooked before, chances are you've cut onions and chances are that you've felt the burn in your eyes that causes you to cry a little. Well guess what, that problem may have just been erased. After 2 decades of research, scientists working for the Japanese food company House Foods Group Inc. have developed a biochemical process to grow onions which do not cause the cook to tear up when cut.

Known as the 'Smile Ball,' the onions are produced with an extremely low amount of enzymes which cause the 'tearing up' reaction.

House Foods' researchers won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2013 for the development of their Smile Ball onion. They are about to cash in on their twenty years to research too - House Foods Group will see its Smile Ball onions, which will cost twice the price of traditional onions, hit stores across Japan this autumn. No more crying at the kitchen table, imagine that.

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