| A Warning Label On Hot Dogs? |
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Hot dogs and hard candy...two big favorites for most kids. But if leading pediatricians have their way, these foods may soon come with warning labels....and not about nutrition. It's the shape that has doctors worried.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says any food that's round or cylindrical poses a choking risk in children. The AAP is calling on manufacturers to redesign these foods whenever possible. It's also asking the federal government to establish a mandatory system to "label foods with appropriate warnings according to their choking risk, to conduct detailed surveillance and investigate food-related choking incidents, and to warn the public about emerging food-related choking hazards." Choking is the most common cause of death in kids 1 to 5 years of age. It's also one of the most common reasons for visits to the emergency room. According to one study, hot dogs cause 17 percent of food-related asphyxiations in children under 10. Other high-risk foods include hard candy, peanuts, popcorn and grapes. "We have laws and regulations in this country that require warning labels to be placed on toys that pose choking hazards, and we have systems that monitor and recall consumer products that pose a risk," said Dr. Gary Smith, who heads the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "However, there are no such regulations on high-risk foods and children are much more likely to put food in their mouths than a toy." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will carefully review the analysis and recommendations from the AAP. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) released a statement saying, "Food safety and consumer confidence is the number-one priority of the food and beverage industry. We applaud the attention the American Academy of Pediatrics is bringing to the prevention of choking among children." "We especially agree that the education of parents, teachers, child care workers, and other child caregivers encouraging them to supervise and create safer environments for children is paramount to the prevention of choking among children. We also strongly agree that pediatricians, doctors and other infant and toddler care professionals should intensify choking prevention counseling including providing parents and care givers guidance on developmentally appropriate food selection for their children. We take our working relationships with FDA and USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] very seriously and look forward to continuing to work with the agencies to ensure that our products are as safe as possible." CLICK HERE FOR IMPORTANT CHOKING PREVENTION INFORMATION FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS Â
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Comments (2)
  written by kayla101, April 13, 2010
wow this is very informative n erbody should use the food sizing guideline n order to prevent choking.
 written by Susan Zak, March 13, 2010
Hi,
Choking has always been something my husban and I worried about when the first of our kids starting eating solids, so we went to the AAP website looking for advice. And while hotdogs may not get redesigned any time soon, the AAP already has some great recommendations on how to reduce the risk of choking. Included in the AAP's recommendations is a 1/2 inch size guideline for how small to cut up foods you do give your child. The US FDA has recognized this guideline. This size guideline struck us when we saw it because (a) we'c never heard of it before and (b) it is much smaller than you'd think. So we created a simple way to inform others such as new parents like us, babysitters, grandparents, and daycare providers about this guideline and give them a way to measure it all on the place where you need it most- a plate. The Safe Sizer plates are colorful, durable melamine plastic plates with a molded in 1/2 inch inner diameter raised ring. The purpose of the Safe Sizer™ ring is to: a) Inform those who don’t know about the 1/2 inch size recommendation b) Remind those who do to follow it at the exact place and time when they need the reminder c) Measure bite sizes to one-half inch or less. It’s smaller than you think. Simply Cut, Size, and Serve right on the plate. If you’d like to learn more, please see our website (midwestmonkeys.com) and check out the AAP website for more recommendations on how to reduce the risk of choking. Susan Zak
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