Doctors have issued a warning to avocado lovers after seeing a spike in knife injuries caused by the popular fruit in recent times.
Surgeons say ‘avocado hand’ injuries - which sees people slice into their palms while using a sharp knife to remove an avocado seed - are on the rise, with thousands requiring treatment at hospital.
A new US study has found that more than 50,000 people presented to emergency rooms with avocado-related knife wounds, while UK doctors have also reported a ‘post-brunch surge’ in similar injuries from people injuring themselves while making smashed avo for brekkie.
Now Australian doctor Jill Tomlinson, who specialises in hand reconstruction surgery, has called on the avocado industry to educate home chefs on the safe way to remove seeds from the fruit.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Tomlinson said people typically injure themselves by thrusting a sharp knife into the palm of their hand.
‘If they’re right-handed, they’re holding a halved avocado in their left hand and they’re using the right hand to plunge the knife directly towards the palm of their hand, which is where the pip of the avocado is,’ Dr Tomlinson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘The knife then glances off the pip and goes into their hand. A sharp knife will keep going until it reaches a hard object.’
The surgeon went on to say that the safest way to remove pips is by working a spoon under the pip and nudge it out. Alternatively, try slicing your avocado into quarters to the pip can easily pop out.
