The humble kitchen mandolin slicer, a favourite for creating perfect potato gratins and julienne vegetables, is revealed as a surprising source of gruesome injuries and a potential drain on National Health Service resources. This follows Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan's own bloody encounter with the device.
A Tale of Two Thumbs in A&E
In a stark illustration of the problem, reader Joel Donovan from London recounted his own emergency room visit after mandolining off the tip of his thumb. The scene in A&E was eerily familiar, as the man queuing behind him had suffered the exact same injury. This second casualty, however, had come prepared, bringing his severed thumb tip along in a shopping bag, carefully packed on ice in a hopeful bid for reattachment.
Donovan's domestic drama continued at home, where his wife later believed she had discovered the missing piece of his thumb in the kitchen sink. "It turned out to be a shred of spring onion and, alas, not suitable for grafting," he wryly noted. His letter was in response to Lucy Mangan's column of 9 January, in which she confessed to having "sliced half the ball of [her] thumb off" while preparing potatoes dauphinoise.
Extreme Kitchen Safety Measures
The danger is so recognised that some home cooks have resorted to extraordinary preventative measures. Ian Simmons from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, reported his own series of "bloody fingertip-shaving incidents" before finding a solution. He now refuses to use the sharp kitchen tool unless his hand is protected by a butcher's chain-mail glove, more commonly associated with professional kitchens and fishmongers.
This collective commiseration in the Guardian's letters page points to a wider, perhaps under-reported, issue of kitchen gadget-related harm. The anecdotes suggest these are not minor nicks but significant lacerations serious enough to require hospital treatment, thereby contributing to A&E waiting times and NHS workload.
A Call for Caution and Shared Stories
The correspondence serves as a public service announcement, highlighting the need for heightened caution when using these deceptively dangerous tools. Many modern mandolins come with safety guards and finger grips, but as the letters prove, these are often abandoned in the rush of food preparation.
The Guardian's invitation for further reader opinion underscores the communal nature of this kitchen hazard. The shared experiences of Donovan, Simmons, and Mangan transform a personal mishap into a wider conversation about domestic safety and the unexpected pressures on public health services from everyday activities.
