Snafood :: The Death Squash Story

Not too long ago I had my first experience prepping butternut squash. I carefully cut two large squash into three sections, peeled them scooped out the seeds and innards, and began to cut the squash into manageable cubes to make soup. It wasn't long before I noticed my finger pads and thumb pad on my left hand tingling. I ignored it and continued cutting.

I finished prepping one squash and moved onto the second, this was around the time I noticed a clear sap oozing out of the squash where I had cut it into three sections. After finishing prepping all the squash I washed my hands in the hopes to calm the tingling, which had turned into numbness. While washing my hands, I noticed my left hand's fingertips were orange in color and skin was peeling away. This is where I started to panic a little. The right hand was fine, since it was holding the knife and not handling the squash. No matter how much I washed my hands the peeling wouldn't stop, nor the tingles/numbness.

With the help of a few online friends I was able to find out that this dermitlogical reaction to squash is fairly common. I'd never heard of it before, but I was glad to know that it wasn't something terribly alarming afterall. The tingling went away after about 8 hours and my hand finally felt normal again. But what a learning experience!

Deep orange colored squashes and pumpkin contain many enzymes that react on the skin in much the same manner as a glycolic acid chemical peel. In fact, there are many, many pumpkin facial peels presently on the market. 

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I don't think I'll be signing up for a squash facial anytime soon. But I have made "Death Squash" Soup since this happened - wearing food service gloves...