Frankfurters a risk to kids health

In The Doghouse: Frankfurter Danger To Kids
12:32pm UK, Tuesday February 23, 2010
Adam Arnold, Sky News Online
Doctors have called for the humble hot dog - one of America's favourite fast foods - to be "redesigned" because it poses a danger to children.


Yummy... but hot dogs carry a serious health risk, according to medics
Youngsters can choke on the frankfurter-style shape, and medics want changes to stop the dogs sticking in children's throats.
Up to 77 youngsters in the US die each year from food-related choking and more than 10,000 others are treated in hospital.
About 17% of cases involve hot dogs, according to a report by the American Academy of Paediatrics.
But there are no food regulations similar to those intended to stop children swallowing toys.
The academy says: "Food manufacturers should design new foods, and redesign existing foods to avoid shapes, sizes, texture and other characteristics that increase choking risk to children."
It said hot dogs were perfectly shaped to "wedge tightly into a child's hypopharynx".
The academy also claimed other high-risk foods including raw carrots, grapes and apples, should be cut into pea-sized pieces for small children.

Peanut butter is also a risk
Other hazardous foods include peanut butter which "can conform to the airway and form a tenacious seal that is difficult to dislodge or extract".
"Stuffing large numbers of marshmallows in the mouth also may increase the risk of choking", it added.
Under US federal law, choking warning labels have to be put on certain toys like small balls, balloons and games with small parts.
There should be the same rules for food, unless manufacturers voluntarily put more warning labels on high-risk foods, the academy said.
Lead report author Gary Smith, told USA Today: "If you were to take the best engineers in the world and try to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, it would be a hot dog."
He added: "To try to get them out once they're wedged in, it's almost impossible."

I can understand peanuts being a risk but hotdogs? Whatever will they think of next?

I misunderstood the headline. I thought it meant you shouldn't take kids to Frankfurt. A lot of these European countries are just Havens For Paedophiles. It said so in the paper.

FRANKFURTERS HAVE CANCER CAUSING CHEMICAL IN THEM,SO I UNDERSTAND.

It's Merkel thats a risk to adults and kids.


She can kill you.

Oh yes Mother Merkel, the new Lorelei.  That is what the Spectator is now calling her.

fuzeta wrote:Oh yes Mother Merkel, the new Lorelei.  That is what the Spectator is now calling her.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MOTHER SHIPTON.