Pizza-related injuries lead to thousands of emergency room visits
Pizza and pop punk go hand in hand, sure. But did you know that the ‘za also frequently pairs with trips to the emergency room? That’s right, our all-time favorite food reportedly caused 2,300 ER-seeking injuries last year alone. Ouch.
The figure comes from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the government oversight agency that lit up Twitter last week with the surprising stat for National Cheese Pizza Day. Did you think that number would be so high?
Read more: Create a pop-punk band with pizza toppings
The CPSC notes that the pizza-related ER visits were “associated with” the dish, per So Yummy. The injuries include burns, cuts, falling in restaurants, falling while carrying pizza and even falling out of bed (!) while reaching for a slice.
And don’t suspect that number of injuries is inflated. The information is verifiable and legit. It’s collected by CPSC from 96 U.S.-based hospitals, and it then compiles the data in its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
It was just #NationalCheesePizzaDay
Pizza is relentless #NationalPepperoniPizzaDay pic.twitter.com/Ktw1Zdjzaz
— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) September 20, 2018
“Pizza is a good example [of NEISS info],” CPSC social media lead Joe Galbo tells Munchies. “The FDA obviously regulates food, but we can find injuries associated with pizza by looking for it in the injury descriptions we receive from hospitals.”
The injury sum itself is the result of calculations established on the outfit’s reported hospital findings, Galbo says. “Based on these reports,” he continues, “our NEISS team uses an equation to create a national estimate of injuries.”
Pizza safety a top priority?
How do we stay safe? Well, for starters, make certain your ‘za’s not too hot when you go to eat it. And keep in mind, Galbo says the injuries are statistically so low that we’re probably doing just fine with our pizza-eating habits.
“I wish we could make a call on how Americans are doing as far as eating pizza, but since the number of injuries is so low from year to year it wouldn’t be scientifically appropriate to say that the change in injuries is statistically significant.”
But that can be confusing, because the agency originally only found 63 injuries in the last year that were linked to the food. But the estimated national numbers say there were actually over 35 times more pizza accidents.
What do you think about the amount of pepperoni-covered cuts and bruises last year? Have you ever gone to the emergency room because of a pizza-related injury? Sound off in the comments and let us know your best pizza story!
