Crispy fried onions (birista) made from Indian red and white onions, sliced, fried golden and de-oiled to a shatter-crisp finish — for biryani and burger builders, ready-meal toppers, salad bars and retail shakers across the US, UK, Ireland and the EU.
At ≤ 4 % moisture the flakes stay crisp for 12 months in a sealed bag and re-crisp in seconds under a lamp.
Frying onions in-house costs a fryer, a person and a lot of oil, and the colour still drifts. Buying them in fixes all three.
Machine-sliced 1.5–2 mm, fried in continuous fryers with oil turnover monitored — no dark, bitter flakes.
Centrifuged and cooled to ≤ 4 % moisture; the flakes crunch on day one and on day 300.
Onion, vegetable oil, salt (optional). No colour, no MSG, no flour coating unless you ask for it.
Sunflower oil for EU clean-label programmes; RSPO palm on request where cost leads.
Typical specification for standard golden flakes; dark-roast and coated (flour-dusted) variants are supplied to the same panel.
| Quality check | ODOD Group lot | Typical open-market lot |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture | ≤ 4 %, tested per lot | 6–10 %, goes soft in weeks |
| Colour | Uniform, dark pieces ≤ 3 % | Mixed, bitter flakes |
| Oil quality | FFA / PV on the COA | Unknown oil turnover |
| Label | Onion, oil, salt | Undeclared flour or colour |
| Market compliance | United States | United Kingdom & Ireland | European Union |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product class | Prepared vegetable; FSVP importer verification; Prior Notice | Prepared vegetable under retained FIC labelling | CN 2005 99; labelling per Reg. (EU) 1169/2011 |
| Process contaminants | FDA guidance on acrylamide | Assimilated Reg. 2017/2158 acrylamide mitigation | Reg. (EU) 2017/2158 mitigation measures apply to fried vegetable products; acrylamide monitored |
| Allergens | None of the FDA major allergens (flour-coated variant: wheat) | None of the UK 14 (coated variant: gluten) | None of Annex II (coated variant: gluten); "may contain" per site policy |
| Oil declaration | "Vegetable oil (sunflower)" | Named oil required | Named oil required — "sunflower oil" or "palm oil" |
Regulatory references are provided for planning; the importer of record confirms the requirements for each shipment. Lot-specific test panels are run to the buyer's specification before dispatch.
Four steps, each with a control point.
Onions topped, peeled and machine-sliced to 1.5–2 mm for even frying; washed and de-watered.
Fried at 160–170 °C in refined sunflower or palm oil with oil FFA and PV monitored and oil replaced on schedule.
Centrifuged to remove surface oil, cooled on vibrating belts to ≤ 4 % moisture, sorted for dark pieces.
Nitrogen-flushed in laminated pouches or lined cartons; metal detected; 12-month shelf life.
Processed and packed in FDA-registered, GMP-certified facilities running HACCP under ISO 22000. Halal certified; Kosher and organic-certified lots on request. A full Certificate of Analysis travels with every lot, and every pallet traces back to its farm cluster and processing batch.
Documents per shipment: COA, Certificate of Origin, phytosanitary certificate where applicable, health certificate, packing list, and Halal certificate on request.
Where crispy onions sell today.
The classic birista garnish and layer; also folded into rice at the pass.
The crunch topper on smash burgers, loaded fries and hot dogs — a growing US and UK menu item.
Shaker-pack format for salad bars, poke and grain bowls.
Sachet packs (5–10 g) for chilled and frozen meal kits.
Private-label 100 g – 500 g packs for supermarkets and ethnic retail.
Crispy onion in breads, crackers and savoury snack seasonings.
Light and fragile: we pack for the crunch to survive the container.
Refined sunflower oil is standard for the UK and EU, where buyers want a clean label and no palm. RSPO-certified palm oil is available for cost-led programmes and the Gulf. The oil is always named on the COA and the label.
Crispness comes from moisture. Our flakes are de-oiled and cooled to 4 % moisture or less and packed under nitrogen, so they arrive crisp and keep for 12 months. If a pack is opened and left, they will soften — a few seconds under a heat lamp restores them.
Standard flakes are onion, oil and optional salt — nothing else. A flour-dusted variant (crisper, more golden) is available; it contains wheat and is labelled accordingly.
Fried onions are a food where acrylamide can form. The process follows the EU 2017/2158 mitigation approach — controlled frying temperature, slice thickness and colour sorting — and lots are monitored.
Yes: dark-roast (for Middle Eastern kabsa and mandi), coarse-cut, and small-cut for ready-meal sachets. Colour standards are agreed with a reference sample.
Fried onions are light: about 6–7 tonnes in a 20-ft container and 14 tonnes in a 40-ft high-cube. Most customers ship 40-ft HC or mix with heavier products such as tamarind or tomato paste.
Ask for a 1 kg sample in the oil of your choice and the COA. Pricing FOB, CIF or DDP within one working day.
