Abstract: A slicing machine has a housing on which a blade is rotatable about a horizontal axis. The blade is covered by a cover plate which must be in position in order to allow depression of the push-button which starts the device. In addition, the blade is held to its hub by means of a connecting element that connects screw-fashion to the hub over the blade and which can be removed or tightened by hand. A support plate adjacent the blade can be swung between a down position in which a foodstuff can be slid along it during slicing and an up position out of the way paralllel to the blade. A foot on this support plate can be moved between a projecting position in which it can function as a foot and a flat position recessed in the support plate.