Why do onions make us cry when we cut them, but not when we eat them?

Question

I was helping my mom in the kitchen today, and when I started chopping onions, my eyes started stinging and tearing up. But then I realized something weird – when we eat onions in our food, they don’t make us cry at all!Can someone explain why onions make us cry when we cut them

In: Other

Answer 1

Because onions emit vapours when you cut them, which is what stings your eyes. This doesn’t happen when eating onion in food, unless you take a raw onion and ate it like an apple, then it would sting your eyes.