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 It's about to get even easier for a generation of pampered of avocado lovers to enjoy a delicious piece of creamy avocado toast. 
  
 A British company has just started selling avocados without pits as a way to reduce the risk of people slicing themselves while trying to cut open the fruit. In case you were wondering, doctors say "avocado hand” (as this hazard is labeled) is real — and they're seeing more and more cases as the fruit's popularity continues to rise! 
  
 Alamy The stoneless avocados are available, for now, only in Europe. 
  
 But avocado toast and guacamole-loving Americans shouldn't get too excited just yet: The seedless fruits are only available across the pond through U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). The "cocktail avocado," as the chain is calling it, is smaller and more elongated than traditional versions available in the U.S. like Hass, and they usually measure just 2 to 3 inches in length. In another incredible innovation, the skin of this avocado is smooth and you can actually eat it. 
  
 “This amazing fruit has been on our radar for a couple of years and we’re very excited to have finally been able to get hold of some for our customers to try,” M&S food technology specialist Charlotte Curtis said in a statement. 
  
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 color share link Avoid 'avocado hand': Martha Stewart shows you how Play Video - 2:46 Avoid 'avocado hand': Martha Stewart shows you how Play Video - 2:46 
  
 The seedless avocados are the result of an unpollinated avocado blossom that develops without a seed. The fruit is grown in Spain and available only during December, when they are usually sent to food markets in Paris — but M&S was able to obtain a limited supply this year for select stores. 
  
 "So make sure you get them while you can,” Curtis said. “They’re perfect for snacking and lunch boxes as they can be eaten whole but can also be used for a beautiful garnish or in a salad. 
  
 "My top tip is to try them deep fried,” she added. 
  
 You might expect such a novelty to be pricey but M&S stores are selling packs of its cocktail avocados for roughly $2.50 each. 
  
 M&S The stoneless avocados also have edible skin! 
  
 No word on when, or if, the cool-looking avocado will ever make its way to the U.S. where Americans are just as obsessed with the fruit. Avocado toast has become a brunch-menu essential and photos of "avocado lattes" (yes, people were really serving coffee in avocado skins) blew up social media earlier this year. 
  
 Small, seedless avocados might be fun to eat but earlier this month, a woman in Hawaii made headlines after she spotted what may have been the biggest avocado ever while out on a walk. 
  
 Pamela Wang is now waiting to hear back from Guinness World Records to find out if her 5-pound fruit is the world's largest. ||||| Retailer’s ‘cocktail avocado’ can be eaten whole and may help end problem of people slicing their hands while removing stone 
  
 Marks & Spencer has begun selling a stoneless avocado that could help banish the pain of “avocado hand”. 
  
 The so-called cocktail avocado is 5cm-8cm (2in-3in) in length and has a smooth, edible skin, meaning it can be sliced or eaten whole. 
  
 Earlier this year, the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons identified the problem of increasing numbers of people turning up at A&E after cutting their hands and fingers while trying to remove avocado stones, and called for safety labels to be put on the fruit. 
  
 'I peeled my finger instead of the coconut': readers on their fruit- and vegetable-related injuries Read more 
  
 Charlotte Curtis, a food technology specialist at M&S, said: “We’ve had the mini, the giant, ready sliced and we’re now launching the holy grail of avocados – stoneless. This amazing fruit has been on our radar for a couple of years and we’re very excited to have finally been able to get hold of some for our customers to try.” 
  
 The slimmer fruit is the result of an unpollinated blossom and develops without a seed. It is grown in Spain and currently only available during December. M&S said stoneless avocados were usually sent to Paris, where chefs use them in high-end restaurants, but the retailer had managed to source a limited supply this year. 
  
 Curtis said she expected them to sell out quickly, adding: “My top tip is to try them deep fried.” 
  
 M&S’s stoneless version is the latest attempt to meet growing global demand for avocados while supply is being squeezed. 
  
 Avocado hand: why the fruit has become a health hazard Read more 
  
 Over the summer, Tesco briefly sold an avocado weighing about 70g and nearly one-third of the usual size. M&S is also experimenting with tattooing avocados instead of using sticky labels. 
  
 UK sales have surged as the Instagram-friendly dish of avocado on toast has become increasing popular and health-conscious consumers have used the fruit in smoothies and salads. It has also been blamed for young people not being able to afford to buy a house. 
  
 Poor harvests in producer countries including Peru and South Africa have combined with soaring demand from China to create a worldwide shortage. Strikes by workers in Mexico, which accounts for up to 70% of global avocado production, compounded the problem. 
  
 •Follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk, or sign up to the daily Business Today email here. 
  
  ||||| Marks & Spencer is launching the British high street’s first stoneless avocado. 
  
 Known as cocktail avocados due to their small size, the launch follows the success of the mini and giant avocados last year. 
  
 The cocktail avocados are small elongated fruits, measuring around five to eight centimetres in length. 
  
 Considering ‘avocado hand’ has proven itself to be one of the most perilous injuries of our time, the stoneless avocado could revolutionise our brunches. 
  
 Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. 
  
 The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. 
  
 What’s more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour. 
  
 Avocado-lovers don’t have long to get their hands on the revolutionary fruit though - they're grown in Spain and only available during December. 
  
 The cocktail avocados are usually sent to Paris where they’re used by top chefs. But M&S have sourced a small number of them to sell in-store. 
  
 Charlotte Curtis, M&S agronomist, says: “We’ve had the mini, the giant, ready-sliced and we’re now launching the holy grail of avocados – stoneless! 
  
 “This amazing fruit has been on our radar for a couple of years and we’re very excited to have finally been able to get hold of some for our customers to try. 
  
 “We know they will be in demand and we’ve only been able to get our hands on a limited amount so make sure you get them while you can! 
  
 “They’re perfect for snacking and lunchboxes as they can be eaten whole but can also be used for a beautiful garnish or in a salad. My top tip is to try them deep fried!�? 
  
 Brits’ love of avocados shows no sign of slowing down, with Iceland making waves earlier this year with their launch of frozen pre-sliced avocado. 
  
 Everyone’s favourite source of healthy fats is now available in stoneless, miniature form for £2 a pack in M&S. |||||Summary:

– Who knew whipping up guac could be such dangerous business? A British retailer, apparently, as it has just introduced a pitless avocado to the masses to prevent the injury known as "avocado hand." The Guardian reports on Marks & Spencer's limited-edition cocktail avocado, a variety grown in Spain and usually only seen in top Paris restaurants. The special avocado is between 2 inches and 3 inches long (making it slimmer than a typical avocado) and boasts an edible skin. The plant it comes from is unpollinated, meaning the pit never grows inside, and one of M&S' goals in selling it is to keep people from slicing their hands and fingers while trying to de-pit the fruit. "This amazing fruit has been on our radar for a couple of years, and we're very excited to have finally been able to get hold of some for our customers to try," M&S food scientist Charlotte Curtis says. The Independent notes that avocado aficionados will still enjoy the taste they're familiar with: one that's "smooth and creamy … and rich in flavor." Curtis adds that the ready-to-nosh avocados are ideal for on-the-go lunches and snacks and as salad add-ons or garnishes, per Today; she also suggests deep-frying them. A pack of a handful of the avocados is said to sell for around $2.50 at M&S, though, in bad news for US consumers, they are available only in the UK for now. (Also now a thing: "diet" avocados.)