# British Doctors Call for Ban on Long, Pointed Kitchen Knives



## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

I mostly just lurk here, but I thought that this might be of interest to folks here. Apologies if it's too far off-topic.

From an article on the BBC website:


> A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.


And later in the article:


> The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.
> 
> They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.
> 
> ...


Full article here.

No more gyutos, sujis, yanagibas, debas, or long petties, among others.

I'm waiting for them to figure out how sharp the edge of a non-pointed knife can be. I figure they'll go after sharpening stones next. After all, if it saves just one life…


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## atatax (Jan 8, 2015)

me thinks they will save more lives by treating their chefs and cooks better, so they stop trying to kill people with their sharp pointy knives.

also, would this like force cooks to turn in their knives or would it be like a ban on selling more of them, so that everyone currently with one can keep it? Would you, or do you already need, some kind of license if you have like an old WWI or pre WWI sword?


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Ban fire I say.  Ban heat.


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

YES, Ban writing too because reading might give you ideas that could hurt someone /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif


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## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

Atatax said:


> me thinks they will save more lives by treating their chefs and cooks better, so they stop trying to kill people with their sharp pointy knives.
> 
> also, would this like force cooks to turn in their knives or would it be like a ban on selling more of them, so that everyone currently with one can keep it? Would you, or do you already need, some kind of license if you have like an old WWI or pre WWI sword?


If it's anything like the firearms legislation after Hungerford and Dunblane it would be a turn-them-all-in event.

I'm not sure about all swords, but samurai swords, with the exception of antiques and swords made using traditional methods prior to 1954, are banned. Also, a license is required to sell any blade other than those intended for domestic use.


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## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

berndy said:


> YES, Ban writing too because reading might give you ideas that could hurt someone /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif


Have you been on a college campus lately? They're pretty close to that.

But we're getting pretty far off the original topic here. I'd like to steer back toward comments regarding the utility of long pointed kitchen knives.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

If you want a smooth cut, a beautiful cut, you need a long knife. You'd be surprised how long a knife has to be to slice sashimi. 300mm min. In every day prep cooking tasks, longer=more efficient. Any 'top chef' they interviewed is an idiot.


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## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

MillionsKnives said:


> If you want a smooth cut, a beautiful cut, you need a long knife. You'd be surprised how long a knife has to be to slice sashimi. 300mm min. In every day prep cooking tasks, longer=more efficient. Any 'top chef' they interviewed is an idiot.


Pardon my ignorance about sashimi knives, but do they have to be pointed? That seems to be the issue. They don't care about a sharp edge (yet), just the sharp point.


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## atatax (Jan 8, 2015)

for trimming fat off of meat, a tip is needed to get the blade between the fat and the meat. Then once the blade is between the fat and the meat, the longer the blade and the longer the slicing motions, the cleaner the trimming will be. The chef's knife needs to be long and often times its useful to use the point of the knife. Boning and carving knives need points. That instead of buying long and pointy knives we should just buy long blunt knives and short pointy knives, like it would be perfectly fine for us to buy and carry twice as many knives is stupid. Article = bullshit. Chefs don't buy pointy knives just to kill people, that pointy knives are also better for dispatching of annoying waiters and owners is only a perk  I guess if England passes this at least they'll have an excuse for having the worst food in the world, they aren't even allowed to use real knives....


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## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

Atatax said:


> for trimming fat off of meat, a tip is needed to get the blade between the fat and the meat. Then once the blade is between the fat and the meat, the longer the blade and the longer the slicing motions, the cleaner the trimming will be. The chef's knife needs to be long and often times its useful to use the point of the knife. Boning and carving knives need points.


Thanks. I figured that was the case.


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## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

Atatax said:


> I guess if England passes this at least they'll have an excuse for having the worst food in the world


Come on now; I know you're trying to be funny but no need to perpetuate outdated cliches. London is one of the best restaurant cities in the world. Tons of talented cooks are coming from England and In case you're wondering, no I'm not british.


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

Well looks like the gubbament is dragging their feet on legislation since that article was published in *2005 */img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif


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## eboldt (Dec 11, 2012)

Mike9 said:


> Well looks like the gubbament is dragging their feet on legislation since that article was published in *2005 */img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif


Well, nuts. The article that linked to the BBC article just popped up in my news feed. I didn't notice the date on the Beeb article. That'll teach me!


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## westlake (Feb 17, 2015)

Not big news. In China knives, including pointed chef knives and non-pointed Chinese cleavers, are already banned in public transportation.


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## mckallidon (Feb 14, 2015)

Gun control at work folks.  Ban knives, they'll sharpen sticks on rocks.  Burn all the sticks, they'll hit us in the head with rocks.  If cooking knives were really a problem, then line cooks would be stabbing each other en masse when the pressure and heat come on.  I read in the UK all violent crimes are done with bat and such, and crime never decreased at all with gun control, just changed.  Muggings and burglary increased with greater gun control.

No practical use in a kitchen?  Did these people ever work in a real kitchen?  Who is researching the researchers?  This just in, academics think they know more outside they're line of questionable and largely publicly unquestioned expertise.


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