BURLINGTON, Vt. — Super Bowl Sunday is one of the busiest home-cooking days of the year, and safety data shows the most dangerous moment isn’t kickoff — it’s halftime.
Halftime is when kitchens come back online. Food is reheated, knives are picked up again, blenders are restarted and ovens are reopened — all while attention snaps back toward the television. Parents move quickly, multitask and assume they will only step away for a moment.
That moment matters.
Data tied to Super Bowl weekend shows a consistent rise in kitchen-related injuries, with lacerations and burns accounting for most reported cases. Cuts from knives, burns from ovens and contact with hot surfaces are the most common — injuries that are strongly linked to distraction and rushed food preparation.
One frequent culprit is guacamole. National injury tracking has documented tens of thousands of emergency room visits over the years related specifically to avocado-cutting injuries, many occurring during large food-prep events like the Super Bowl.
In Vermont, winter intensifies the risk. Families are indoors for long stretches, kitchens are smaller, and counter space fills quickly with food, packaging and appliances. During halftime, foot traffic increases just as focus drops.
Parents often don’t see this as dangerous because it feels routine. Cooking feels familiar. Kids are nearby. The game is paused. But safety officials consistently point to divided attention — not lack of experience — as the leading factor behind these injuries.
Most Super Bowl-related kitchen accidents don’t happen after the final whistle. They happen during the busiest stretch, when everyone is rushing to be ready before play resumes.
For families across Burlington, Rutland and communities statewide, halftime isn’t just a break in the game. It’s the window when kitchens get hectic, attention slips and small mistakes turn into emergency room visits.
