Avocados have been blamed for a number of societal ills. First, Australian real estate mogul, Tim Gurner, advised young people to stop buying avocado toast at ‘$22 a pop’ and save that money to buy a home. Then a man reportedly robbed almost $8,000 from 2 banks in Israel while carrying an avocado that looked like a grenade. Now avocados are sending people to the emergency room!
On this most important #NationalAvocadoDay pic.twitter.com/dAH3mMtyLp— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) July 31, 2019
Did you know that avocados are actually responsible for a startling number of ER visits each year? An INSIDER analysis of injuries reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) national injury database — a collection of data from a sample of emergency room visits across the country — found 152 mentions of avocados in 2018, and 117 mentions in 2017.
However, the outlet notes the database only includes reports from 96 hospitals, meaning the actual number of avocado-related injuries in the U.S. is likely much higher — the agency estimates it’s 8,900. That’s about 160 per week, and approximately 24 per day nationwide.
While most of the injuries were caused by a faulty slice, at least one person managed to fall off a stool during an avocado picking session. Who knew that the avocado could be this dangerous?
“Avocado hand” is apparently an epidemic that needs to be addressed before anyone else gets hurt. This is caused when a person tries to remove the avocado pit with a carving knife or wraps their fingers around the avocado while cutting it.
Be safe out their people and try to cut your avocados with care.