When we are warned about the dangers of food, it usually relates to food allergies or food poisoning. The image of killer biscuits has never quite come in to people's minds.

Millions of people reach for a 'biccy' whenever they pour a cup of tea and it seems that this simple action is an activity packed with hidden danger. Almost half of all Britons have been injured while eating a crunchy biscuit with their tea or coffee, according to figures released by a new survey.

The research conducted by Mindlab International shows a staggering500 people each year need hospital treatment after a biscuit-related injury. And it’s estimated that millions of Brits have become cookie casualties at some point.

It also found that almost a third of adults said they had been splashed orscalded by hot drinks while dunking or trying to fish out the remnants of a collapsed digestive.

Is this a dangerous biscuit?

It also revealed that 28 percent had choked on crumbs, while one in ten had broken a tooth or fillingbiting a biscuit.

More unusually, three percent hadpoked themselves in the eye with a biscuit and seven percent bitten by a pet or other wild animal trying to get their biscuit. One man even ended up stuck in wet concrete after wading in to pick up a stray biscuit.

Mindlab International director David Lewis said: "We tested the physical properties of 15 most popular types of biscuits, along with aspects of their consumption such as 'dunkability' and crumb dispersal."

And the title of the most dangerous biscuit belongs to the humble custard cream. It poses the most risk to innocent dunkers with a Biscuit Injury Threat Evaluation, or B.I.T.E rating of 5.63. This compares to just 1.16 for soft and safe Jaffa Cakes.

Mike Driver, Marketing Director for biscuit makers Rocky, who commissioned the study, said: "Working with biscuits every day, we'd long suspected they're not as innocent as they look, and we were right."