A high-end British retailer is offering its customers an unusual and perhaps unnecessary luxury: seedless avocados. The Guardian reported Thursday that the retailer Marks & Spencer believes that the seedless "cocktail avocado" will reduce the risk of people hurting themselves while cutting open the fruits.
Scoff if you must, but apparently "avocado hand" is such a prevalent problem in the U.K. that the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons thinks that the avocados need safety labels. One plastic surgeon even told the BBC that he treats about four patients a week at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for avocado-related mishaps, most of which occur when hapless knife-wielders attempt to remove the fruit's pit.
The cocktail avocado grows in Spain and is something of a luxury fruit, which is why it is only being offered in Marks & Spencer stores for the month of December. While smaller than other traditional avocado varieties, a huge part of the cocktail avocado's appeal is that it is nearly impossible to wound oneself while cutting it open, given it has no pit and possesses an edible skin, meaning it can be eaten whole.
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Marks & Spencer has previously sold miniature, giant, and pre-sliced avocados, but Charlotte Curtis, a food technology specialist for the retailer, said the cocktail version is "the holy grail of avocados." If you happen to be an avocado-lover in need, you can get your pack of knife-safe avocados for less than $3 at Marks & Spencer — which, in this writer's opinion, is far more impressive than the fact that the fruits will be seedless.
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