U.S. bill would require labels to warn of choking

www.reutershealth.com, Health eLine, 7/17/03

U.S. bill would require labels to warn of choking

[Which would no doubt be about as effective as the warnings on cigarette
packs... yeehaw...]
Last Updated: 2003-07-17 15:58:01 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joan Stavros Adler thought she was doing the
right thing when she sliced her son's hot-dog into coin-sized pieces.

But 4-year-old Eric choked on a slice and died in front of her.

Adler did not know that a safer way to serve hot dogs to children under
5 is to slice the entire hot dog lengthwise into quarters, and then cut
off individual bites. She spoke on Thursday in support of a bill aimed
at making food manufacturers label products with such instructions.

"There are no universal warnings of the risks presented by certain foods
such as hot dogs, grapes, peanuts, and popcorn--foods routinely given to
children, but shown to be risky for them," Adler told a news conference.

Two House of Representatives members, California Democrat Mike Honda and
New Jersey Republican Mike Ferguson, introduced a bill intended to make
the Food and Drug Administration investigate unusual food choking
incidents.

"While we have a great system in place to warn parents of choking
hazards posed by toys, the FDA's oversight of food choking hazards is
ineffective," Honda said.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, one
U.S. child dies from choking on food every five days and more than
10,000 children are taken to hospital emergency rooms for food choking
injuries every year.

Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs for the Center for Science
in the Public Interest, a nonprofit group that campaigns on food issues,
said parents were often surprised to learn that a single kernel of
popcorn can choke a child.

"They can eat it 10 times and it's kind of like Russian roulette," he
said. "Popcorn is particularly dangerous because it can swell up in the
throat."

Adler said she even asked her pediatrician about hot dogs and was told
they posed no special risk to her son.

"I took special precautions during Eric's short life to protect him from
what I considered the dangers of life--holding his hand in a parking
lot, locking the gate of the swimming pool, reading toy labels to make
sure they were appropriate for his age," she said.

"I am an educated person but I never realized how dangerous a hot dog
could be."