Apparently, ‘avocado-related injuries’ are a thing, and they are sending more people to hospital than ever before.
According to The Times, amateur chefs (aka avocado novices, or avonovices as they shall henceforth be known) are risking life and limb to create the perfect avo snack.
2016 was the year the humble avocado went viral. Post continues after video.
They’re showing up to accident and emergency departments as a result, with what doctors are calling “avocado hand”: stab and slash injuries that are a direct result of (failed) attempts to cut open the fruit’s skin and remove the stone.
Some injuries are so severe they can lead to nerve and tendon injuries that need intricate surgery and may lead to permanent damage of the hand.
Delicious, yes. But also dangerous.
Things are getting so serious that the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons is calling for the fruit to come with safety labels.
"People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them," former president of the plastic surgery section of the Royal Society of Medicine, Simon Eccles, said.
"We don’t want to put people off the fruit but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this. It needs to be recognisable. Perhaps we could have a cartoon picture of an avocado with a knife, and a big red cross going through it?"
