Just when you thought the safest place to be these days is in your own home, we have some news for you: vegetables can be dangerous! Yes, you heard us, and many of the surprising details of how, when and why, come from our very own Accident Compensation Commission. Pumpkin lovers should take particular note, given October 31st is just around the corner. According to ACC, pumpkin preparation for the big event is an accident waiting to happen! On Halloween, claims come tumbling in from pumpkin carving injuries, with the majority being ‘lacerations.’ We can only assume the same threat exists for lovers of pumpkin soup – so always carve the thick orange skin away from you! Note to seniors: you are in the majority of pumpkin injury claimants so take extra care around your pumpkins!
Pumpkins are one thing, but who would ever suspect the humble onion harbours its own injury horrors! Turns out dicing onions is dicing with – well – not death, exactly, but certainly cuts. Many cooks injure themselves while slicing onions (and also carrots) with a blunt knife. Instead of slicing cleanly into the onion, a blunt knife is more likely to slide off the shiny surface of a peeled onion, and connect with your hand. Many an enthusiastic onion dicer has diced too close to their fingers (ouch!). If you’re looking for an onion prepping knife that never requires sharpening, we recommend Victorinox serrated knives – but take care around them as they are super-sharp!
Avocados seem to have it in for us humans, too, and with summer coming up, it pays to sit up and take note. December to January is the peak period when avocado are out to get us! What’s more, injuries are on the rise as avocado appears more frequently on our must-have fresh produce list (in 2021, ACC received 626 avo-related claims!). Not surprisingly, injuries occur most often when avo-lovers are removing the stone from their avocado, and never more so than when the avocado isn’t fully ripe, so choose your avo carefully and don’t cut in too soon.
Physical injuries aren’t the only way veges take their toll – some of them hit back via toxins secreted in their flesh. While most of us are aware green potato is a no-go, fewer of us realise the humble apple harbours a dark secret – it’s pips contain a nasty chemical called glycoside which is made up of cyanide and sugar. Once the crushed (think: chewed) seeds enter our digestive system, they degrade into the highly poisonous hydrogen cyanide. While you’d need to eat a significant number of seeds to harm you, it’s best not to ingest any, so while you may sensibly discard your apple core with its seed, you also need to remove apple cores if you are planning to pop them into a smoothie. Smoothie makers crush everything to a fine pulp – including seeds!
Despite their potential to do us harm, we have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to fruit and vegetables – and some of the ways in which they help us may surprise you. Plant foods contain ‘plant toxic proteins,’ molecules they use primarily to defend themselves from disease, pests, and other animals that want to harm them. Researchers harness these molecules for use in a wide range of applications, including the development of natural herbicides, anticancer and antiviral agents, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and the identification of blood groups.
Who would ever have guessed fruit and vegetables harbour such harmful as well as helpful properties! Next time you look a potato in the eye, you may want to contemplate its potential.