It’s called a knife . . . please use it
I read the article “Doctors want warnings of choking dangers” in The State newspaper last week. It reported that the American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for sweeping changes in the way food is designed and labeled to minimize the chances of choking. The academy said: “Food manufacturers should design new foods, and redesign existing foods, including meat products, to avoid shapes, sizes, texture and other characteristics that increase choking risk to children.”
I don’t whom I’m more upset with right now. The pediatricians who are behind the idea of having the federal government require the food industry to redesign and relabel foods that a child might choke on or the parents/caregivers who can’t remember where the knife is to cut up their children’s food and monitor what their children are doing.
Really? Do we need a sticker on a pack of hot dogs to remind us to cut it up? What’s next? Will there be explicit step-by-step instructions also inserted into each package to show how to cut the hot dog lengthwise as well as widthwise. Maybe there will be big red circles with slashes through them showing all circle-shaped foods such as grapes, hard candy and gumballs. Popcorn also would be included the slashed circle. I know, let’s have someone standing at the movie counter reminding all parents of children under the age of . . . hmm . . . what is the age when people stop choking on food? USE COMMON SENSE PEOPLE.
Sorry, I rarely press the caps lock button on my computer. It just makes me crazy to think that rather than caring for the sick (this stomach virus is rampant at our schools this month) or educating parents on healthy eating practices (obesity rates are sky high for children) pediatricians are taking a stand on choking regulations.
I don’t mean to sound cruel. I think it is terribly sad that children have died this year choking on food. But they have also choked on small toys. And some die have drowned, and some died in car accidents.
Education is key. Hire a big PR company to roll out a big anti-choking campaign. Educate the parents and caregivers of what is safe and what is not to put on a plate.
But demanding federal regulations to change the shape of a hot dog? What will they think of next?
Amen, Sister!
I am so glad you wrote this article. I was floored when I heard this on NPR last week. The next thing we know the FDA/USDA/Doctors will be trying to ban cooking in the home, in favor of only allowing professional cooks to cook our foods. After all, we might burn our houses down or feed our kids something they could choke on. And is it just me, or is there more to worry about in what a hot dog is made of than what it’s shaped like?
Hot dogs are full of some nasty stuff. I’d rather see a sticker on the package that tells parents this isn’t a good choice for their kids!
It reminds me of a cartoon several years ago of a scientist holding a rat–obviously killed by the trap that ensnared it–calling the FDA to tell them he had scientific proof linking cheese to death in lab rats. Somewhere, a company will receive vast sums of money to develop the ideal, safe shape for a hot dog, when the real solution to the problem was already in the kitchen drawer.
Mar 3rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm
[...] It’s called a knife . . . please use it [...]
Mar 11th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
[...] It’s called a knife . . . please use it [...]
Mar 15th, 2010 at 8:48 am
[...] It’s called a knife . . . please use it [...]