Warning Labels for Hot Dogs
Parents everywhere are familiar with the appeal of hot dogs to their young children. Although, they are not the most nutritious food a child could eat, they are inexpensive and quick to prepare. Unfortunately, the child favorite is very dangerous because they pose a major choking hazard. One pediatrician has compared a hotdog to the ultimate throat plug for children.
Pediatricians are asking hotdog makers to redesign one of America’s favorite foods in order to make it safer for our youth. Choking children account for more than 10,000 emergency room visits every year. Doctors attribute 17 percent of those choking incidents to hot dogs. If a redesign is impossible, they are requesting a warning label similar to those on toys that have small pieces.
The president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council Janet Riley, puts the redesigning job on parents. Parents should be the ones cutting the hot dogs into small enough pieces, so they do not pose a choking hazard. Most hotdog packages already have this advice printed on their labels.
Other doctors think a hotdog redesign could fuel the childhood obesity rates. Creating a fun shaped hotdog will make the fattening food even more desirable to young kids.
This is going to be a huge waste of money and will not save one life. This is what the parents should be responsible for. The total number of deaths is estimated to be one or two hundred, important to any given family to be sure, but statistically insignificant.