Choking warning urged for food labels

[luvmy3]

a little ot, but not really, did you know that PANCAKES are a choking hazard? I know of a toddler who choked on cut up ones. I think it was the pancakes/syrup combination. Had never even heard of it before she died.

Anything can be a choking hazard, especially for a toddler. When my kids were toddlers, I looked at anything they put on their mouth as a potential choker. As sad as it is when it happens, I'm never surprised to hear of any food resulting in a choking death.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

a little ot, but not really, did you know that PANCAKES are a choking hazard? I know of a toddler who choked on cut up ones. I think it was the pancakes/syrup combination. Had never even heard of it before she died.

Yeah, I read that in a parenting magazine. BTW, your avatar cracks me up...

 

[Feralpeg]

Some have said that anyone who cannot recognize a choking hazard shouldn't be a parent. That is very true. Unfortunately, they don't give intelligence or even common sense tests before allowing people to become parents.

Recently, a man and woman became upset at Peter Pan's Flight in WDW. They wanted their one year old child to sit in the front of the car by himself while they road in the next seat. There is nothing to keep a one year old from falling off that ride. When the CM told them they could not do this, they got bent out of shape.

So, not all parents use common sense. Sometimes, things have to be put in their face to make them understand a possible hazard.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

More to the point - if over half already have this labeling and it isn't working, then it doesn't work, so stop pushing it...

 

[luvsJack]

a little ot, but not really, did you know that PANCAKES are a choking hazard? I know of a toddler who choked on cut up ones. I think it was the pancakes/syrup combination. Had never even heard of it before she died.

A small child can indeed choke on anything. All parents should be required to learn the Heimlich before they leave the hospital with their newborn (and they need to know the method for all ages). Anyone working with children whether as a profession or a volunteer should know the Heimlich. It would be horrifying to have to stand back and watch a child die and not have the knowledge to help them.

Some things are just more of a hazard than others. Anything round, about the size of a nickle are things that need to be chopped, sliced, or mashed before a child eats them.

When ds aspirated the peanut into his bronchial tube, the surgeon said I would shocked at all the things he had to retrieve from people's tubes and/or lungs. A big one was the tops to pens. Adults would tend to chew on them, fall asleep and breathe in real deep one time--and down it goes. It was terrifying to know what he had to do to get that little tiny piece of peanut out of ds.

 

[holycow]

My son has choked 3 different times on a hot dog(he's 4) and only by the grace of the man upstairs and my DH quick thinking saved him.

NO MORE HOT DOGS AT THIS HOUSE> My DH declared it today.

and you know if it saves 1 kid it is worth the price of ink!

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

A small child can indeed choke on anything.

An older child can choke on anything. My DS was eating mozzarella sticks from White Castles (which are really cheesy) and he was basically chewing on a glob of cheese when he almost choked. One hard pat to the back took care of it, but it can happen to any child, any age (he was 7 at the time).

I think it's great that companies want to help parents be more responsible, but in the long run, it just makes the parents lazier. We as parents need to take the responsibility of watching our kids. My idea would be to have a mandatory "parenting" book that everyone has to read and be tested on before leaving the hospital with their newborn. That way we know the information has been read.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I personally think that we, as a society, have gone overboard with warning labels. Example? I bought a gallon of milk the other day. Printed on the label was the following text: "Allergy Warning: This product contains milk". I bought a jar of peanuts, that carried this little gem on it's label: "This product was processed on machinery that processes nuts, in a facility where nuts are stored"

In both cases, my thought was "Well, duh, of course". I hope that anyone with a dairy allergy or a peanut allergy wouldn't need the warning on the label to tell them to stay away from those products. But, obviously, the warning labels are there, which means someone had to have sued the company over the lack of a label.

We do not need more warning labels. We need tort reform, and we need judges that aren't afraid to throw these cases out. More warning labels aren't going to do anything, society is already oversaturated with them, and the labels have reached the point where they're just being ignored.

 

[DizBelle]

Warning: this thread constitutes a choking hazard.

 

[Planogirl]

Hot dog patties?

They are a sausage aren't they? How do you make a flat sausage?

 

[allison443]

My son has choked 3 different times on a hot dog(he's 4) and only by the grace of the man upstairs and my DH quick thinking saved him.

NO MORE HOT DOGS AT THIS HOUSE> My DH declared it today.

and you know if it saves 1 kid it is worth the price of ink!

He choked three times before you outlawed hot dogs? Why did you keep giving him hotdogs after he choked the first time?

 

[dejr_8]

Excellent Post!

I personally think that we, as a society, have gone overboard with warning labels. Example? I bought a gallon of milk the other day. Printed on the label was the following text: "Allergy Warning: This product contains milk". I bought a jar of peanuts, that carried this little gem on it's label: "This product was processed on machinery that processes nuts, in a facility where nuts are stored"

In both cases, my thought was "Well, duh, of course". I hope that anyone with a dairy allergy or a peanut allergy wouldn't need the warning on the label to tell them to stay away from those products. But, obviously, the warning labels are there, which means someone had to have sued the company over the lack of a label.

We do not need more warning labels. We need tort reform, and we need judges that aren't afraid to throw these cases out. More warning labels aren't going to do anything, society is already oversaturated with them, and the labels have reached the point where they're just being ignored.

 

[golfgal]

I agree, where does common sense come in, if you feed a child a hot dog, you cut it into small pieces, same with grapes or any food for that matter. you teach your child to take small bites if they have issues with choking on food. If you don't GET this, maybe being a parent isn't the best idea for you.

It is kind of like the warning on hair dryers "do not use while bathing", well, ya know, if you think this is a good idea just maybe you should learn the consequences .

 

[nmmom95]

Even with a warning, you will have people do whatever they want because "my mother gave me hot dogs and I turned out fine." There are people who still ignore "back to sleep." A warning label will not replace common sense.

 

[golfgal]

Even with a warning, you will have people do whatever they want because "my mother gave me hot dogs and I turned out fine." There are people who still ignore "back to sleep." A warning label will not replace common sense.

See and when my kids were little, you weren't supposed to put them on their backs. This stuff changes with the wind so who are you supposed to believe???

 

[Kies99]

You know what would really suck? Realizing that you just won the power ball and getting so excited you choke to death on a hot dog.

 

[aprilgail2]

Seriously if you don't know that a hotdog is a choking hazard for little kids then perhaps you should really rethink becoming a parent! You might as well give your toddler marbles to play with while eating a hot dog if you can't figure out a choking hazard!!!

 

[aprilgail2]

I know of a child who choked to death on a hotdog(at WDW actually) .

Was that childs mother a teacher? I know a teacher whos 2 year old choked to death at disney on a hotdog!

 

[luvmy3]

My son has choked 3 different times on a hot dog(he's 4) and only by the grace of the man upstairs and my DH quick thinking saved him.

NO MORE HOT DOGS AT THIS HOUSE> My DH declared it today.

and you know if it saves 1 kid it is worth the price of ink!

So your ds choked on 3 seperate occasions and that wasn't a warning enough for you, but you think a label will make a difference

 

[luvsJack]

See and when my kids were little, you weren't supposed to put them on their backs. This stuff changes with the wind so who are you supposed to believe???

EXACTLY! Between the time I had oldest ds (he is 28) and dd (she is 11), things had changed dramatically! And between dd and dgd (7 months) things have changed again. All kinds of new warnings have come along. That's why I say that some things we think of as "common knowledge" are just not.

I was 18 when I had ds. I had never done more than held a baby for a bit here and there before. I had no clue how to care for this baby. I was lucky, I had my mom and my sister right there with me to guide; but not every body has that. Some young mom's are just on their own and may not even know there is such a thing as a baby book (which have also changed quite a bit, btw so if she gets on at the library or from a neighbor; it could be an old copy with info that is no longer useable) We cannot assume something like this should be already known, its not always. After working with parents and children for 12 years, I am never surprised at the things parents do not know about the safety and well being of their child.

Maybe its not individual labels that are needed, maybe it needs to be told to parents in other ways but there does need to be constant education on the things that are choking hazards. And like I said before, every new parent should be given lessons in the heimlich and cpr before leaving the hospital and again at some point through their peds office and maybe through their child care center or preschool. And yes, if tax dollars are needed to pay for then tax dollars should pay for it.

As for the labels that seem to be so silly (like the peanuts one on the peanut butter), I would imagine that the label is just put on everything that comes out of that factory, which may make many things besides peanut butter.