Personal Injury Law

Choking Hazards: US Pediatricians Seek to Prevent Injuries to Children By Asking for Warning Labels

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that its time that the US government mandate that warning labels be placed on the packaging of foods that pose a potential choking hazard to children. The pediatricians? group also is calling for a redesign of certain manufactured foods, such as candies and hot dogs, which can be reshaped in a manner that is safer for kids.

Dr. Gary Smith, the head of the group?s Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, says that foods that are round or cylindrical in shape are a choking hazard. Smith noted that there are steps that can be taken to protect kids from choking, which is considered the number one cause of death in the five and under age group and the reason that thousands of kids under age 15 end up in the emergency room. One study reports that hot dogs are a factor in 17% of the asphyxiation accidents involving food and kids in the 10 and under age group.

Some other choking accident food culprits include:

? Peanuts
? Marshmallows
? Meat chunk
? Cheese chunks
? Peanut butter

At least one child fatality every five days is caused by a food-related choking accident. For a boy or girl who is lucky enough to survive an accidental choking incident, if the brain was deprived of oxygen for long enough, there may be the possibility of a traumatic brain injury.

Our Maryland injuries to children and minors attorneys are determined to help our young clients and their families obtain financial recovery for the harm they have suffered because a manufacturer or another party was liable for food products liability.

Pediatricians Want Redesign of Hot Dogs, Candy to Curb Kids' Choking, BusinessWeek, February 22, 2010

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog, USA Today, February 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
American Academy of Pediatrics

Food Choking Dangers for Babies and Toddlers, Suite101.com

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).