An Insider analysis of injuries reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) national injury database -a collection of data from a sample of emergency room visits across the country- found 152 mentions of avocados in 2018 against 117 mentions in 2017.
However, the actual number of avocado injuries in the US is likely to be much higher, because the database only includes incidents reported from 96 hospitals. According to a calculation made by the agency's Epidemiology team, the official estimate is 8,900 avocado-related ER visits in 2018.
Nearly all of those visits were due to lacerations and injuries to hands and fingers, caused while cutting avocados. Although there was at least one instance of someone slipping off of a stool while picking avocados as well.
Avocados have been deemed a danger to the public before. In 2017, British reports described an epidemic of "avocado hand" after a surgeon London surgeons told The Times that they were treating a growing number of patients who had accidentally sliced into their hands while cutting avocados at home.
The US's estimated 8,900 avocado-related hospital visits in 2018 would equate to more than 160 per week, and approximately 24 per day nationwide.
