"Avocado Hand" is real, and avocado-loving millennials are suffering avocado-related injuries. Slicing into the fruit, hitting the pit, and accidentally slicing your hand is so common it now has a name. And, for your safety, you can now get a pit-free avocado. If you're wondering where to buy seedless avocados to reduce your chances of a trip to the emergency room while preparing your beloved avocado toast, the news is not great. Seedless avocados are super rare, and only available during December, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Seedless avocados — grown in Spain — resemble baby cucumbers, or as one Twitter user said, "big-ass pickles." They're small, cute, and functional — you can even eat the skin! However, even though they have been sold in the U.S., they are currently only available from British retailer Marks & Spencer, the Times reported.
While some people on Twitter are calling the seedless avocado genetically modified, according to the Times, the seedless avocado is actually the result of an un-pollinated blossom of the fruit, grown without a seed. So, they're no more GMO than regular pitted avocados. And, if you're traveling to England in December, your holiday wish might be granted if you're lucky enough to snag yourself one of these beauties. Seriously, seedless avocados are the stuff avocado-toast dreams are made of, and we need them now because I have major FOMO.
The Curious Case Of Avocado Hand
Avocado injuries have become so prevalent that medical professionals in the UK — one doctor claimed to treat four such injuries a week — want this dangerous fruit to come with a warning label. "People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them," Simon Eccles, honorary secretary of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, told the International Business Times. "We don't want to put people off the fruit but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this."
While those who have suffered Avocado Hand are understandably elated, some people on Twitter are maligning those clumsy enough to lose a digit while slicing an avocado. All I have to say is, just wait until it happens to you, then we'll see who's mocking the very real dangers of avocado slicing.
For those who know how to perfectly slice an avocado, hats off to you and your superior fruit-cutting skills. However, not everyone is so comfortable in the kitchen. Like math and reading maps, cooking is not really my jam, and apparently it's not Meryl Streep's either. The International Business Times reported that the iconic actor has also suffered from Avocado Hand.
"The Oscar-winning [actor] promoted her film Hope Springs in 2012 with a bandage on her hand, telling the audience that she required stitches after she cut herself while slicing the green fruit." And, she's definitely not alone. How to correctly slice an avocado is a mystery to many. So much so that there are instructional videos about how to safely handle this dangerous fruit. And, since you're unlikely to find seedless avocados in the U.S. this year, you might want to watch one. Seriously, this public service announcement is for your own good. #TheMoreYouKnow
In Ireland, one woman's avocado injury was so severe that she required surgery to repair the damage, according to Irish newspaper The Journal. "In this specific case, the woman presented to the emergency department at Beaumont Hospital with the knife still impaled through her finger and the avocado." Medical TV show writers, take note: please feature Avocado Hand on a future episode of Grey's Anatomy.
While fruit is rarely declared a public enemy, medical professionals warn that innocent-looking avocados can actually be pretty menacing. "The public needs to be educated on the potential dangers of preparing avocados," The Journal quoted doctors as saying. The article is accompanied by a pretty graphic picture that serves as a cautionary tale for those blind to the dangers of avocados. With the world literally burning down around us, the last thing you need to deal with is Avocado Hand. Safety first my friends. You've been warned.
