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A new item found at an Australian supermarket has people questioning how “lazy” customers are becoming.

Coles has been slammed by a Sydney-based environmentalist group, Northern Beaches Clean Up Crew, after it came to their attention that the supermarket giant were selling diced-onion.

“Are we really that lazy that we can no longer dice our own onions?” the group asked on their Facebook page with a photo of the product.

“So much unnecessary plastic!”

The post drew a lot of attention, with many others commenting that the idea was “absurd” and “ridiculous”.

“WHY IS THIS AT ALL NECESSARY,” one person even vented.

Others planned to boycott Coles, believing that the extra packaging would be bad for the environment.

However, some people have defended the product, pointing out that the pre-cut vegetables are a great necessity for those with disabilities — but they are still angry about the excessive packaging and price mark-ups of the items.

A Coles spokeswoman told Yahoo News Australia that the retailer knows that cutting onions is a task many customers don’t like.

“It can quite literally bring them to tears,” she said.

“So this is another example of where Coles has done the work for you.”

“All the packaging for this product can be recycled through REDcycle soft plastic recycling bins which are available at all Coles supermarkets.”

Other pre-cut items include pumpkin, carrot, and even mushrooms and broccoli.

CHOICE have said “The obvious benefit of buying convenience veg is the time it saves you in the kitchen. When you’re trying to get out the door to meet friends, or feed the kids before you hear yet another ‘When’s dinner going to be ready?’, then even a few minutes can make a difference.”

But “as you’d expect, there’s a price to be paid for the convenience of pre-prepared veg, although it varies depending on the product.”

CHOICE added, “It’s arguable whether the convenience is worth it, but how much it adds to the problem of plastic packaging isn’t.

“It’s estimated that 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic has been produced worldwide to date. Of that, 6.3 billion metric tonnes has become plastic waste – 79% of which is accumulating in landfills or the natural environment including our oceans.”

What do you think? Lazy shopping or smart shopping for a busy generation?

Share your comments below

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  • I have pondered this and looking on the positive side these would be awesome for people that perhaps have seizures and are concerned about using sharp knives. Could be handy for the elderly that have arthritic hands and find it painful to chop veggies.

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  • Onion is not the only vegetable packed this way. There is quite a lot of others. People with arthritis or injuries to their hands use them. They have difficulty peeling and cutting some types of vegetables. These containers are firm plastic so they can be rinsed and put in your re-cycle bin or even washed thoroughly in soapy water and re-used. When they mark them down the often lose money on them but that is better than just throwing food and container straight into a bin, then to landfill.

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  • I was always told you have to use onion right away after you cut it because it absorbs all kinds of nasties really quickly and its really dangerous to eat.

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  • Not something I would buy but if someone else wants to then they will stock to demand.

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  • I can understand helping those with disabilities. Certainly wouldn’t be something I’d buy – $10/kg for onion is ridiculous even if it is cut – doesn’t take long to do.

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  • I understand the concern about the waste of plastic.
    I also understand that for some people that are either time poor or just hate cutting onion, that this can be very handy.
    But there was already frozen packaged diced onion and there is also awesome machines that dice onions for you in a jiffy

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  • I wouldn’t buy it regularly, but there would certainly be the odd ccassion it’d be a lifesaver.

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  • Interesting at the price reduction so I don’t think a huge demand. It’s not hard to cut up an onion and much cheaper to do your own. I use a Tupperware slicer so everything is contained within the unit and no tears for me.

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  • I prefer to cut up my own veg to my liking and desired size.

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  • They used to sell diced onion in the freezer. They were 2kg bags and I’m not sure if they also had 500gm bags. They were very handy to have. Since I don’t use onions very often now I dice a few onions and then put them in my freezer in re-usable containers.

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  • If someone wants to buy it , is their choice, I cut up what I need and to use, pity to see some wasted. Price is reduced, so not selling as fast. Different stores have more call to purchase then another. if not selling well Coles can always stop supplying . depends on demand.

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  • I walk past these pre-cut vegetables and laugh. Look at the cost of the onions, $10 a kilo. However, for someone with a disability, I imagine it would be of great benefit.


    • Wow! – $10 a kilo for onions! Goodness!

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  • It’s lazy – but people are clearly buying it. I wouldn’t.

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  • Also about the packaging, you cannot put these containers in the Redcycle bin at the supermarkets, they go in the recycle bin, so please look up online what you can put in your recycle bin and what goes in the redcycle bin at supermarkets, and I wish they would empty them more often, every time I go there to put plastic wrappers in they are full.

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  • Make sure you rinse them before use, you can pick up a lot of germs from pre-cut food. I personally don’t buy because I like to cut up my veggies fresh, once cut they loose a lot of nutrients.

    Reply

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