Food can kill Christmas cheer

Senior Journalist - crime and justice·NZ Herald·

12 Dec, 2014 04:00 PM3 mins to read

For more than 3000 Kiwis, the injury they suffered while eating or preparing their food was problematic. Photo / Babiche Martens.

Preparing and eating festive-season meals sets off thousands of ACC claims.

For most of us, the worst thing about Christmas and New Year feasts is the excessive amount of food we gorge over the festive season.

But for more than 3000 Kiwis, the injury they suffered while eating or preparing their food was more problematic.

Even the simple act of eating broccoli resulted in a trip to the doctor.

Figures provided to the Weekend Herald by ACC show that in December and January last year, 3217 people made claims for food- and drink-related injuries. Of those claims, 79 were from Christmas Day.

The most common claims were for burns, cuts, foreign bodies in eyes and orifices and dental injuries.

However, some of the more specific injuries appear to show how dangerous food can be.

The activities that led to the injuries, as outlined to ACC by claimants, include:

• Cutting up vegetables for dinner and slicing off fingertip.

• Burned hand on barbecue grill.

• Chicken bone stuck in throat.

• Cutting meat and knife slipped through finger.

• Eating broccoli.

• Suffering small wound to bottom lip while eating toast.

• Gutting a fish and cutting hand.

• Cutting thumb on sharp edge of baked beans tin.

• Lifted pot lid and burned hand on steam.

• Twisted elbow opening multiple cans with can opener. ACC offers plenty of advice to prevent food-related injuries over the silly season.

Always pay attention when cutting with knives or other sharp utensils, and keep your knives sharp so they're less likely to slip and cut you, it says.

"Keep knives in a block or on a magnetised strip, not in a drawer. Use a cutting board and always cut away from yourself.

"Watch out for steam. Unfortunately, steam is invisible when it is at its hottest, so be very careful when reaching across the stove or lifting pot lids."

Stay safe this festive season

• To avoid choking on your Christmas lunch, take small bites and cut food, especially meat, into small pieces. Be careful with especially dry foods, such as chips and nuts.

• When slicing meat and veges, use a sharp knife and make sure your cutting board is stable.

• Keep your fingers out of the way.

• When barbecuing, use tongs and a glove or oven mitt to keep from burning yourself.