I know I just posted something yesterday, but I need to strike while the iron is hot.
First off, you need to read this to understand this rant first. Pediatricians urge choking warning labels for food.
Ready?
Good.
Now the point of the story is that these pediatricians want warning labels to be placed on food to warn parents that their child may choke on the food.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Change the shape of lollipops to a flat disc shape instead of a ball shape. I'm sure Tootsie Roll will love the fact that one of their products will have to be re-designed, factories re-tooled to be able to produce their famous tootsie roll tootsie pop in a disc shape.
Hot dogs should be re-designed to something a little less choke-on-able. Like what? A patty? "Kids come get your pork by product patty, formerly known as a hot dog!"
Just wonderful.
This is what is wrong with the world these days, somebody dies and it comes to light that feeding children small pieces of food is dangerous, so we should now have all of this food made safer by way of redesigning them or adding warning labels to the packaging.
Guess what, that doesn't work.
Didn't work for cigarettes, doesn't work on alcohol products, doesn't work on people using hair dryers in the shower.
Why in the hell will it work on food?
Parents are going to see the new warnings and go, "Oh, my, Junior could choke on this if we give it him!" Puhleeze. Anytime you put something into your mouth to consume it, you are putting yourself at risk to accidentally killing yourself and anytime you feed a baby or child, you pose the risk of accidentally killing them as well. It is a sad fact of life. If you cannot figure out that you need to perhaps supervise you child while they are eating on the off chance that they may choke on something, you don't need to be a parent.
Now the woman that lost her child in the link at the beginning left the 4 y.o. child with his 16 y.o. sister and 92 y.o. grandmother while she went to the store. I'm not blaming either the grandmother nor the sister for the tragedy, but to campaign for safer food design and warning labels is silly.
Apparently this threat of choking is so severe that in 2003 and in 2005, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives; HR 3560, that would have the Commissioner of Food and Drugs educate parents of children 14 y.o. and younger, have education materials at hospitals, schools, day cares and pediatricians as well as set a 'prevention week' each year. This bill would also have the commissioner to have a comprehensive study done;
- (A) to assess the accuracy and adequacy of current data and data collection efforts;
- (B) to document the number and nature of incidents of food choking-related deaths and injuries by age group annually;
- (C) to consider the nature and causes of childhood food choking incidents;
- (D) to establish criteria for determining whether a food poses a significant choking hazard to children; and
- (E) to assess the opportunities and key impediments to congressional, regulatory, and private sector initiatives to reduce the number of child deaths and injuries due to food choking.
Luckily, the bill went to committee and has not been heard from again. (Any bills that do not make it all the way through Congress by the end of the term are wiped from the books and must be re-submitted the following term before being able to be voted on into law.)
This is just a sad example of how an unfortunate act can lead to some bill being introduced that if it had been passed, would be just another unnecessary law that everyone would have to follow, that is just plain common sense.
Yes, peanuts, grapes, carrots, lollipops, hard candy and a number of many other things can cause a child to choke to death, but it is the responsibility of those watching the child to make sure these things do not happen and to educate themselves in the proper ways to stop the choking if they do happen. We do not need laws or classic foods to be re-designed or warning labels placed to inform us that this food could potentially cause you or your child to choke on and die.
