avocado might just be one of the most hazardous nutrient when it comes to digit - slicing debacle and mitt injuries . Beloved for their oily good and Instagrammable credentials , these voguish fruits have been creditworthy for a detectable rise in 911 cry in recent eld .
The culprit ? A phenomenon get it on as “ avocado hand ” . An estimated 50,413 people in the US had avocado tree - related tongue injury between 1998 to 2017 , according to a field of study publish inThe American Journal of Emergency Medicinein 2020 .
dub the problem an “ epidemic ” , researchers from the Emory University School of Medicine wrote that the form increased over time , rising from an approximate 3,143 cases between 1998 and 2002 to 27,059 caseful between 2013 and 2017 .
relative incidence contact an all - time gamey in 2016 and 2017 . The team speculated that the surge in injury might be linked to the produce popularity of alligator pear in the US over late decades .
Notably , over 80 percent of these combat injury involved women , peculiarly young women between the age of 23 and 39 , who represented nearly one - third of all report accidents . The ground why this might be the font is n’t discuss .
The issue often come up from the large , round , and slippery semen imbed in the avocado ’s soft physique , making it sluttish for the knife to slip and result in injury .
A2017 aesculapian casing reportdescribed it as so : “ Classically , the patient role hold the alligator pear in their non - dominant handwriting while using a knife to cut / strip the yield with their predominant hand . The mechanism of accidental injury is usually a stabbing wound to the non - dominant paw as the tongue slip past the stone , through the soft avocado tree fruit . ”
dread not , though . While the statistics may sound alarming , you could still enjoy your avocado safely without an urgent tripper to the pinch room . To ensure you slice with trust , theCalifornia Avocado Commissionhas published a short online scout on their website called : “ 5 tips to help you cut an avocado without shorten yourself . ” Here ’s what they advocate :
