Danger! 'Avocado hand' is on the rise – here's how to stay safe this Super Bowl

There’s one thing that should carry a warning label this Super Bowl Sunday, but you might not get it at first guess. The avocado – more commonly known for gentrifying communities across countries – is poised to cause a spate of injuries this weekend.

Super Bowl Sunday is thought to be one of the year’s biggest days for avocado consumption – 162m lb of avocado was consumed during last year’s big game, and many dutiful hosts serving up chips and dips this game season could be putting themselves at serious risk.

Last year, the forebodingly named “avocado hand” was branded an “epidemic” of hand injury by researchers at Emory University, who noted a rise in such cases. If you think epidemic sounds far-fetched, consider this: the researchers estimated 50,413 avocado-related knife injuries occurred between 1998 and 2017, with over half happening in the last decade. And that’s not even counting those too ashamed to go to hospital.

Avocado hand occurs when a person tries to remove the pit in a dangerous manner, such as with a knife, and ends up cutting themselves. The consequences can be serious: avocado hand can result in damage to the muscles or tendons, and even the nerves in extreme cases.

(And there we all were thinking the only problem with avocados is how they are causing a crisis in millennial home ownership.)

Here are the rules on how to safely cut an avocado, according to the California Avocado Commission.

How to safely remove an avocado stone

Take the avocado, wash thoroughly, dry and then place on a cutting board.

Carefully cut the avocado in half lengthwise around the pit (or seed), with the fruit flat on the cutting board.

Rotate the avocado a quarter-turn and cut lengthwise around the pit, creating quarter avocado segments. Put down your knife.