THE DOWNSIDE OF GRABBING FOR PIZZA

2,300 Americans hospitalized by pizza in 2017 (including some who fell out of bed reaching for a slice), report reveals

By Natalie Rahhal

Dailt Mail
September 6, 2018

Pizza is hot, gooey, delicious - and dangerous, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission is reminding Americans.

In 2017, an estimated 2,300 people had to go to the emergency room for pizza-related injuries.

They cut themselves cutting pies, burned themselves on pizza pans, and fell in presence of pizzas.

In its latest data set, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) explores every kind of unthinkable injury and reminds us that even the best things in life can be risky.

When we talk about 'food safety,' usually we mean how meat and produce are handled in restaurants and grocery stores.

But Americans perhaps take for granted the safety and dangers of the consumer side of food.

In 2017, there were all manner of pizza injuries, according to one of the CPSC's latest memes on its wonderfully weird Twitter account.

The main reasons that pizza sent people to the ER in 2017 were standard-issue cuts and burns.

Many people were also injured slipping and falling while carrying pizzas, walking into, out of, or around pizza places.

Even reaching for your beloved slice to accompany you while lounging can be precarious, as some victims found out when they fell from bed for the sake of pizza.

The CPSC's social media ingenue, Joe Galbo, says that he was unfazed by the number of pizza-related injuries his agency found.

'I used to get surprised by the number of injuries associated with things like pizza or books' (it's 11,880) Galbo says.

'But I think it's a pretty low number considering how many people eat pizza,' (about three billion pizzas a year).

He says that, despite their excitement, people need to take particular care when they are slicing up pie, and always 'cut pizza with caution.'

Galbo also advises to 'make sure you're wearing personal protective equipment' - industry-speak for oven mits and an apron' and, most importantly, 'make sure you're eating pizza in a manner that won't lead to injury.'

Though his safety PSA memes are themselves wacky and always good for a laugh, Galbo reminds us that 'there is never an eotertaining injury.'

Instead, he said that we can look to pizza-related injuries as a reminder of surprising ways people can get hurt when we don't take simple precautions.

For example, he recalls one riveting ER report about an individual who was strolling happily into a pizza parlor when disaster struck: they tripped over a mat, and wound up in the ER instead of enjoying the pie they'd ordered.

'That's an example of how people could be creating safer spaces for themselves,' Galbo says.

'If the mat was a little flatter, or not where it was, maybe that person wouldn't have gone to the ER that day.'

Food-related injuries in general are a good reminder that if we have 'more mindfulness' about even the most mundane things, we'll be less accident-prone, Galbo says.

'Avocados are a great example. People watch videos about how to remove the pit, maybe they do it once, and think, "I've got this," then they end up slicing their hands,' he adds.

'More mindfulness when interacting with sharp objects with your food would be good for everyone.'

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve been savoring pizza since the early 50s. The only time I was injured reaching for pizza was when I fell off the shitter grabbing for a slice that my dog Rufus was trying to snatch. I got the pizza before he did but it slipped out of my hand and fell into the shitter … and that’s when Rufus bit me in the ass. They stitched my ass up in the ER.