Danger score versus ER volume
Danger score versus ER volume
According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Flatware (excl. Knives) ranks #256 of 838 by danger score (38/100) at ER-volume #268 of 838 (5,917/yr). They are not the same ranking.
- #256
- danger rank of 838
- #268
- ER-volume rank of 838
- 38/100
- danger score
- 5,917/yr
- estimated ER visits (avg)
Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.
Where this category's danger score sits nationally
Danger score (38/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories
38 Around the middle lower than 30% of 838 product categories
scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024
Composite verdict
Composite Safety Score: 60/100
One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.
| Dimension | Value | National percentile | Weight applied | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) | 6 | 55th | 35% | CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index |
| Annual ER injury volume | 5,917 | 61st | 30% | CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries |
| 5-year injury trend | -2% | 62nd | 15% | CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries |
| Consumer incident reports | 33 | 64th | 20% | CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count |
Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.
Where 118,364 estimated ER injuries land on the body
Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 417. Segments sum to 118,364 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.
Two danger lenses
Same-group peer scores and this product's dial
The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Containers, Tableware & Packaging group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.
Containers, Tableware & Packaging danger scores
How this 38/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for flatware (excl. knives) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume 5,917 ER visits/yr Above median volume
- Severity (hospitalization rate) 6.5% Above median admission rate
- Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
- 5-year trend-2%
Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Across the 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for flatware (excl. knives) are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (7,358 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (4,373 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 24,057 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by contusions, abr. to the eyeball (9,919 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 34,799 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 6.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 33 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how flatware (excl. knives) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 20,482 | 14,317 | |
| 5-14 | 10,534 | 9,116 | |
| 15-24 | 6,668 | 5,633 | |
| 25-34 | 6,877 | 6,461 | |
| 35-44 | 4,936 | 5,924 | |
| 45-54 | 3,443 | 4,135 | |
| 55-64 | 2,583 | 4,861 | |
| 65-74 | 1,724 | 3,207 | |
| 75+ | 2,452 | 4,779 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Hand | Puncture | |
| Finger | Puncture | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Internal | Aspiration | |
| Mouth | Dental Injury | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Foot | Puncture | |
| Mouth | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Internal Injury |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
37YOM-AT 10:30 AM HE WAS EATING LUNCH AND STATES THAT HE SWALLOWED A PLASTIC SPOON/FORK. PATIENT IS A PRISONER AND HAS A HISTORY OF SWALLOWING FOREIGN OBJECTS. PATIENT WAS TAKEN TO SURGERY FOR FB REMOVAL AND DISCHARGED BACK TO PRISON. DX: INTERNAL FOREIGN BODY
76 YOF HAS HAND PAIN AFTER STIRRING FOOD DX: PAIN
36 YOM INGESTED A SPORK HANDLE APPROXIMATELY 3-5 DAYS AGO AT JAIL. DX: FOREIGN BODY IN DIGESTIVE TRACT.
56YOF WAS HELPING HER SON OPEN UP SOME SILVERWARE THAT HAD PLASTIC WRAP AROUND IT WITH A POCKET KNIFE AND CUT HER LEFT LAND DX: LACERATION OF LEFT HAND
28YOM INGESTED PLASTIC FORK, TO ED WITH C/O OF ABD PAIN, DX SWALLOWED FB, ABD PAIN
36 YOM STATES THAT AN HOUR PRIOR TO ARRIVAL HE SWALLOWED A PLASTIC SPORK. HE DID THIS BECAUSE HE DID NOT LIKE THE AREA WHERE HE IS BEING HELD AT JAIL. DX: FOREIGN BODY IN DIGESTIVE TRACT.
32 YOF INGESTED A SPOON AT JAIL 2 HOURS AGO. DX: SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY. PT LEFT AMA.
25YOF WAS EATING FOOD AND WAS STARTLED AND CHIPPED HER TOOTH WITH A FORK DX: CLOSED FX OF TOOTH
64 YOM BENT OVER IN HIS GARAGE WHEN A 3 PRONGED FORK/ UTENSIL FELL AND HIT HIM IN THE EYE. DX: CORNEAL ABRASIONS
22MOM WAS RUNNING WITH A PLASTIC FORK IN HIS MOUTH AND HE FELL FORK POKED PALLET DX ABRASION OF SOFT PALATE
9YOF TOUCHED A FORK THAT WAS ON THE HOT GAS STOVE AT HOME WITH RIGHT HAND. DX: BURN OF HAND.
11YOM WAS REACHING FOR A SPOON WHILE HOLDING A POT OF BOILING WATER WHEN HE SPILLED THE WATER ON HIS ABDOMEN. DX: BURN OF ABDOMEN; LEFT WITHOUT BEING SEEN.
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Cutlery set contains brass fittings that test positive for lead. The product is sold on Amazon as "WiTisve Camping Travel Cutlery Set". I have reported this to Amazon for investigation. The product is labeled as "lead-free" and "safe"
My daughter has been using the Munchkin color reveal spoons and forks. We realized theres a lingering chemical taste no matter how many times we wash them. She also developed some speech impairments while using them. We arent totally sure they caused it, but we know her speech issues disappeared around the same time we stopped use of the product. On Targets website there are multiple reviews that state the cutlery has a chemical taste.
This flatware will eventually snap off at the plastic and break from the metal. It caused severe burns to my hand when the fork broke in half and my hand hit the plate and hot food flipped all over me.
My child's utensil had a small piece fall out. This happened with two separate items of the same type. The first time it wasn't a big deal - I noticed it right away. The second time it fell into my daughter's food. She told an adult, but I fear another kid could end up eating it or choking on it.
Tonight, I cut inside of my mouth with a brand new soup spoon with a plastic handle, bought at a kitchen specialty store, "Genevieve Lethu" at 900 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, yesterday on 8-25-11. The spoon was made in France with engraved mark which says "INDX MADE IN FRANCE". I was eating a bowl of soup with the spoon when I felt a sharp pain in my mouth. There was a cut, inside my cheek, like a cut made by razer blade - but it was the edge of the spoon made the cut. I looked at the spoon and realized that the edge of the spoon was coarse yet sharp. I intend to report the incident to the store tomorrow so that other people will not get hurt by buying and using the same type of spoon at the store. I am reporting the incident so that the store will act on this promptly and properly.
Product is designed so that with long-term use a piece of plastic comes off due to wear and tear. That piece of plastic made it into my toddler's mouth last night. He spit it out. I have concerns that another child might not.
The fork cut my hand while I was washing it. Deep cut with bleeding. It was the side of the fork metal part
Munchkin temperature color changing spoons and for taste like chemicals.
Showing 8 of 33 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to flatware (excl. knives) on the CPSC website.
Compare beyond Containers, Tableware & Packaging
Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization
Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Flatware (excl. Knives): cross-group products nearest on danger score (38/100), estimated annual ER visits (5,917/yr), and hospitalization share (6.5%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.
Similar danger score
Nearest cross-group products by PlainSafety danger score (100-point scale).
Similar ER visit volume
Nearest cross-group products by NEISS estimated annual ER visits.
- Dolls, Plush Toys, And Action Figures Toys & Children's Recreation 5,896/yr
- Water Slides, Backyard/home (not Swimming Pool Slides) Sports Protective Equipment & Gear 5,990/yr
- Water Skiing (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) Sports & Recreation Equipment 6,071/yr
- Aquariums Or Accessories Sports & Recreation Equipment 6,083/yr
Similar hospitalization rate
Nearest cross-group products by % of NEISS ER visits resulting in hospital admission.
Related Products in Containers, Tableware & Packaging
Read with this product
About this data
CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.
According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Flatware (excl. Knives) ranks #256 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #268 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does flatware (excl. knives) rank on danger score versus ER volume?
Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, flatware (excl. knives) ranks #256 by PlainSafety danger score (38/100) and #268 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (5,917/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.
What are the most common injuries from flatware (excl. knives)?
The most common injury is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 24,057 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from flatware (excl. knives) increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for flatware (excl. knives) injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 34,799 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by flatware (excl. knives)?
Of all ER visits involving flatware (excl. knives), approximately 6.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (93.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with flatware (excl. knives)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.