Hot Dogs Are a Choking Hazard for Small Children, Experts Warn in
New Pediatrics Report
By COURTNEY HUTCHISON
ABC News Medical Unit
Feb. 22, 2010
In mere seconds, a seemingly innocuous piece of food can turn
deadly. And Katherine Zuehlke, of Westerville, Ohio, knows
firsthand there's nothing more frightening than realizing your
child is choking.
Over Christmas,
the Zuehlkes had a scare when their nearly 2-year-old daughter,
Tiffany, began choking on a chocolate-covered peanut.
"She had had them before, but right away her eyes got all big and
she had this scared expression on her face, and we knew she was
choking," Zuehlke says.
Luckily, Tiffany's parents were able to perform the infant Heimlich
maneuver and got Tiffany to cough up the candy before she turned
blue or had any permanent damage. The toddler is doing fine, and
their house will be free of that candy for some time.
In the United States, approximately one child dies every five days
by choking on food -- a rate that the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) is trying to change.
The AAP released a policy statement today that calls for choking
hazard labels on foods that kids might choke on, making a special
case for a mandatory warning label on all hot dog packages.
Zuehlke thinks the labels are a good idea. "Parents are so busy, we
pick up things and we don't always think twice. If there are
warning labels at the grocery store, we may pass on it," she
says.
But this is the response hot dog manufacturers might be afraid of:
requiring choking warnings on their products may deter consumers
from purchasing them at all -- even though this family favorite
could be made safe for small children by simply cutting it up
properly.
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