I do not know who discovered the stapler and the art of stapling, but its use has certainly become universal. But I am not about to write on the uses of this ubiquitous gadget, but on its misuse. From food packets to mail envelopes, today, just about everything is stapled and so extensively and indiscriminately that staples may soon be bracketed with unsafe products.

In fact in the United States, staplers and staples did come under such a list, for different reasons though. According to a recall notice put out by the US Product Safety Commission, a particular model of Swingline Cordless Rechargeable Staplers sold during June and October 2002 were found to be unsafe. It was found that if a person holding the stapler pointing towards her or his face inadvertently released the full spring loaded staple magazine, there was risk of facial injury. Consumers were asked to return the product for a defect-free replacement.

But I am not discussing here any hi-fi stapler gadget. I am referring to the simple, ordinary stapler and the pins that have become the cause of irritation and physical injury. Take currency notes. The bundles of notes used to be stapled at so many places with thick pins that it was almost impossible to unbundle them. Besides the inconvenience involved, consumers often found themselves getting injured while removing these pins. There have been instances where consumers have had to take anti-tetanus injections following such bleeding injury to their fingers. Fortunately, the RBI traced the root cause of torn and mutilated notes to this stapling and finally put a stop to the practice.

Now the courier companies go to extraordinary lengths to prevent the consumer from accessing the mail inside the envelope. The mail is stapled at so many places that it takes quite some time and effort to remove the staples and in the process, there is every possibility of important letters, cheques and even greeting cards getting torn or damaged. Or else, the fingers of those trying to pry open the mail getting injured.

But nothing can be more dangerous than the staples that are put on food packages — raw as well as cooked. Be it salted savouries, biscuits or rusks, flour or sweets, curries or chutney, anything that’s wrapped in a plastic package is conveniently stapled, without a thought to the possibility of the staples getting into food. In fact one comes across sometimes, staples in rice, flour and even lentils.

Sometime ago, a newspaper reported a case of a man who bought pakoras and ate, by accident, the staples along with the food and suffered bleeding injuries. In fact one of the first cases that came up before the apex consumer court pertained to a sharp metallic wire found in the food served on board an Indian Airlines flight, hurting badly, the passenger’s gum. I am sure this was a large staple that had gone into the food. The passenger got Rs 2,000 as compensation.

It’s time we used staplers more prudently. And just as RBI banned the use of staples in currency notes, the health ministry has to prohibit stapling of food packages and enforce it stringently.