Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog

[moshquerade]

Niche market here, anyone want to patent a choke-proof hot dog stat?

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog

Nutritionists have long warned of the perils of hot dogs: fat, sodium and preservatives to name a few.

Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs to come with a warning label — not because of their nutritional risks but because they pose a choking hazard to babies and children.

Better yet, the academy would like to see foods such as hot dogs "redesigned" so their size, shape and texture make them less likely to lodge in a youngster's throat. More than 10,000 children under 14 go to the emergency room each year after choking on food, and up to 77 die, says the new policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics. About 17% of food-related asphyxiations are caused by hot dogs.

"If you were to take the best engineers in the world and try to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, it would be a hot dog," says statement author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "I'm a pediatric emergency doctor, and to try to get them out once they're wedged in, it's almost impossible."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires labels on toys with small parts alerting people not to give them to kids under 3. Yet there are no required warnings on food, though more than half of non-fatal choking episodes involve food, Smith says.

"No parents can watch all of their kids 100% of the time," Smith says. "The best way to protect kids is to design these risks out of existence."

Though Smith says he doesn't know exactly how someone would redesign a hot dog, he's certain that some savvy inventor will find a way.

Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, supports the academy's call to better educate parents and caregivers about choking prevention. "Ensuring the safety of the foods we service to children is critically important for us," Riley says.

But Riley questions whether warning labels are needed. She notes that more than half of hot dogs sold in stores already have choking-prevention tips on their packages, advising parents to cut them into small pieces. "As a mother who has fed toddlers cylindrical foods like grapes, bananas, hot dogs and carrots, I 'redesigned' them in my kitchen by cutting them with a paring knife until my children were old enough to manage on their own," Riley says.

The Food and Drug Administration, which has authority to recall products it considers "unfit for food," plans to review the new statement, spokeswoman Rita Chappelle says.

Given the health risks of obesity, pediatrician Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, says, "The last thing we need is to redesign candy and junk food with cool shapes, so we can give them to kids even younger."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-22-1Achoke22_ST_N.htm

 

[techs]

Killer Hot Dogs!

 

[zerocool84]

Of course take the responsibility away from the parents and force it on someone else.


*sigh*

 

[Linflas]

Of course take the responsibility away from the parents and force it on someone else.


*sigh*

The road to serfdom in the 21st century will be paved with "Its for the children".

 

[Vette73]

Of course take the responsibility away from the parents and force it on someone else.


*sigh*

This.


My wife asked why not get my son hot dogs instead of vienna sausages if they are just about the same. I had to tell her that VS's are softer and less likely to be choked on.
My son does not have enough teeth yet so the VS' are a good fit. But as a parent I think of little things like that even though it does cost more.

 

[Lizardman]

this is easy...

/Start patent/

Step 1: take hotdog out of package

Step 2: put in blender

Step 3: turn on blender

Step 4: enjoy! Tasty dogshake


/End patent/

 

[sjwaste]

I mean, if you just cut it lengthwise and into pieces, it's no longer the perfect shape for choking, right?

Are they suggesting that the manufacturers start selling pre-cut hot dogs? How lazy are we?

Oh, that's right, we're this fucking lazy:

 

[ahenkel]

I for one welcome the new choke proof hot dogs. Who has time to chew?

 

[The Sauce]

Any Pediatrician with an ounce of morality would be calling for NO HOT DOGS. These thing are an abomination and putting one in your child's mouth should constitute child abuse. If your child eats one and chokes, he/she is probably better off anyway. How fat are we going to let out kids get?

 

[techs]

I mean, if you just cut it lengthwise and into pieces, it's no longer the perfect shape for choking, right?

Are they suggesting that the manufacturers start selling pre-cut hot dogs? How lazy are we?

Oh, that's right, we're this fucking lazy:

I see your point:

 

[techs]

Now if only someone would invent a pedo-proof Priest we'd be in business.

 

[sjwaste]

I see your point:

Haha, is that the tooth paste with the "mouthwash" in it?

I don't want to have to dirty two spoons!

 

[Fritzo]

When our kids were growing up, we always cut hot dogs/sausage in half for this reason. The size of a hot dog is almost exactly the size of a child's esophagus--not a chance you want to take.

 

[SagaLore]

Of course take the responsibility away from the parents and force it on someone else.


*sigh*

Yes, because parents are irresponsible for giving their kids hot dogs. Oh the humanity!

 

[Eli]

How about instead of redesigning the hotdog, we just put out a call for parents to cut the hotdogs lengthwise?

Problem solved.

 

[ahenkel]

Its not really hard to cut up a hot dog. Even a full on low watt gurgler in a high back chair could pull that off.

 

[techs]

I wonder how many kids actually choke on hot dogs each year?

 

[frodrick]

I wonder how many kids actually choke on hot dogs each year?

13.09

"up to 77 die, says the new policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics. About 17% of food-related asphyxiations are caused by hot dogs."

 

[Nik]

"Take smaller bites, chew your food, and slow down."

awww, is that too hard for parents 🙁

 

[ch33zw1z]

Teach your kid to chew, and cut up their food until they can. I don't know what's more alarming, the fact that someone wants to put a warning label on it...or that we as a nation may in fact need one? Don't forget a warning label on candy canes, twizzlers, popsicles, popcorn, grapes, almonds, cheez doodles...etc...etc...etc...pretty much anything shaped in a choking hazard type form that children will attempt to consume?

 

[lupi]

Why don't they just have mosh make an instructional video and maybe even an accompanying poster.

Of course that may reduce hot dog bun sales....

 

[Genx87]

We are so pathetically stupid we need labels to know how to eat food?

 

[sdifox]

Choke-proof hotdogs already exist, they are called "Not Eating"

 

[SphinxnihpS]

2.57 x 10 ^ -5% of the population Not even worth a FUCKING NEWS STORY... much less a call for action.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Say hello to hot dog paste...

Perhaps requesting a ban on all solid food is the best idea. I mean people choke on unchewed food all the time, they come into the ER and we shove it down into the stomach with a fiber optic scope.

You wouldn't believe these people, they have esophageal strictures and know they should chew their damn food because it's happened to them before, but no, they have a couple of drinks and suddenly they're trying to swallow 1/2 a flipping steak.

We also have a huge number of patients that actually manage to swallow the food, but the esophagus hurts after being stretched or the food being lodged for a short period and we scope them and find nothing...