What do we really gain from no-cry onions?

Opinion OutlookWhat do we really gain from no-cry onions?Frankensteining low-pungency vegetables is popular, but with food the longer way round is often more enjoyableHarriet Fitch LittleAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTGlobal annual onion consumption is about 6kg per person — or about 37 medium bulbs © iStockphoto/Getty ImagesWhat do we really gain from no-cry onions? on x (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on facebook (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on linkedin (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on x (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on facebook (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on linkedin (opens in a new window)What do we really gain from no-cry onions? on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Harriet Fitch LittlePublishedMarch 16 2026Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A ragù Genovese is one of the tastiest of Italy’s innumerable regional sauces. That it hasn’t found favour in the UK is probably because of how the cooking process begins: take a kilo of onions and slice them finely. This makes for a very cheap meal, given a kilo of onions somehow still retails for about £1 in British supermarkets. The downside is that you’re unlikely to be able to make it to dinner without shedding a tear. But salvation is at hand. Reports from Japan this month tell of an onion stripped of its mythical power to make grown chefs weep. The reassuringly named “Smile Ball” has, after a full 20 years of R&D, been rid of the lachrymatory-factor synthase enzyme responsible for inducing tears. It’s been available domestically since 2015 and is gaining traction, with production projected to increase more than fivefold to 1,000 tonnes over the next three years. Nor is it the only anodyne allium making headlines. In the US, researchers at Bayer Crop Science (now owned by BASF) spent 30 years Frankensteining various low-pungency onions to create the “Sunion”, which has been on sale at Waitrose in the UK for the past few winters. Here is an onion so sweet and mild (in the words of one early media report, “almost flavourless”) that it can’t make you cry. Although the onions took different paths into existence — crossbreeding for the Sunion, bombardment with heavy-ion beams for the Smile Ball — the destination was the same: both have been described as tasting a bit like an apple.What has humanity gained from a cumulative half-century spent on this endeavour? After all, it’s not like the onion was crying out for an access campaign. It is the near-universal foundation stone of savoury cooking, with annual global consumption of about 6kg per person — that’s about 37 medium onions (or an admittedly less impressive six ragùs). The UK grows about 450,000 tonnes a year and is also the largest onion importer in Europe. And all this research is certainly not breaking down financial barriers. A Smile Ball costs about 75p per onion in Japan, and a Sunion £1.60 for three at Waitrose. Even the Sunion’s UK distributor, the Oldershaw Group, has no ambitions to disrupt the wider UK market. Onions are “a very stable category”, says director Robert Oldershaw. The Sunion “has its place” within it. What is that place? If I try to picture it, what comes to mind is a shiny fridge in a smart London apartment block in a “very desirable neighbourhood”, named by its developers. In this fridge, the no-cry onions room with the no-chop garlic, the no-prep tenderstem broccoli and the no-cook salmon fillets in their vacuum-packed coffins. In short, ingredients that make no demand of your senses until the moment of tasting. This is not a failing, nor is it in any way unusual. There is no aspect of everyday living that hasn’t been rendered similarly frictionless. But with cooking, going the long way round is often more enjoyable. As British food writer Bee Wilson, author of The Secret of Cooking, puts it: “It’s everyday transformation that we have the opportunity to participate in, in a little window after work and before bed.” Even very simple cooking can provide a moment of full five-sense immersion. Chopping an onion offers sensory feedback: if it’s really making your eyes water, it is likely very potent and savoury. Maybe use half. Wilson, who is working on a book about cooking using sensory cues, describes this as “using yourself as a measuring device in the kitchen”. It’s a skill she says we’re at risk of losing. After slicing the onions for your ragù Genovese, you put them in a casserole dish with a smaller quantity of raw beef and some oil. Then, over about four hours, you watch in disbelief as this ugly, pungent ensemble transforms into a jammy, buttery sauce. Would the end result be as delicious if it began with tear-free, odour-free onions you could snack on raw while you’re cooking? Maybe, but I suspect a bit of the magic would be lost. Plus, I know my onions, and I don’t want them to taste like apples. harriet.fitchlittle@ft.comReuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments section Follow the topics in this article Harriet Fitch Little Add to myFT Outlook Add to myFT Food & Drink Add to myFT Waitrose Ltd Add to myFT US Add to myFT Comments