I'd really just like to box in the ears of some of these idiots while they're wearing their stethoscopes, then claim I didn''t know it was dangerous because it wasn't labeled!!
Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs to come with a warning label — not because of their nutritional risks but because they pose a choking hazard to babies and children.
Better yet, the academy would like to see foods such as hot dogs "redesigned" so their size, shape and texture make them less likely to lodge in a youngster's throat. More than 10,000 children under 14 go to the emergency room each year after choking on food, and up to 77 die, says the new policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics. About 17% of food-related asphyxiations are caused by hot dogs.
Ah, the joys of socialism - everyone ends up with a small wienie.
Posted by: steve | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 05:42 PM
Don't put that hot dog in your mouth. You don't know WHERE that hotdog's been.
Posted by: Sissy Willis | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 06:05 PM
Next they will want Twinkies redesigned to look like dog cr@p.
Posted by: Neo | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 06:22 PM
IMO they should label all rocks on the planet with the warning "Do Not Drop on Head"
Just to be safe- could be the greatest safety innovation since the 1970's seat belt buzzer
Posted by: Reaganite Republican | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 06:24 PM
If hot dogs caused 17% what caused the other 83%?
Posted by: archer52 | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 07:50 PM
The American Academy of Pediatrics should have a warning label:
WARNING * AVISO * AVERTISSEMENT
Opinions and recommendations totally devoid of proportion or common sense. Listen or read with extreme caution!
Come to think, there are a number of organizations that could use that one. Perhaps OSHA could design a sticky label.
Regards,
Ric
Posted by: Ric Locke | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 07:58 PM
I say let's redesign the Academy's funding... they're choking us on the bullcrap. Perhaps a budget with the decimal place moved over one place to the left.
Posted by: Ran / Si Vis Pacem | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 09:00 PM
With 20% of the population under 14, that means 61 million hotdog consumers at risk.
If there were in fact 77 deaths truly related to hotdot consumption, then the risk is a little over one in a million.
That alone should suffice to shrivel the nanny staters with ridicule.
Failing that, then let's get to the real root problem
We can never ban enough indirect hazards; after hotdogs we must fear jelly beans, baked beans, chickpeas...
The only answer is to go to the source, unfit parents. Learners permit at 17, road test at 18, night time priveleges at 21.
Posted by: Robert Arvanitis | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 09:52 PM
They really do need warning labels on hot dogs. The most important one would be "Do not use as a flotation device." I almost drowned last summer using one of those things.
Posted by: mike | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 09:52 PM
"Sustenance must be approved by the Gov't. Nanny State, preferrably at the Gov't. Sustenance Teat/Center."
"The Dept. of Gov't. Sustenance is not liable for any unforeseen occurances in the future,as the future is not foreseeable. THAT IS ALL."
Posted by: Live Free Or Die | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 07:18 AM
Most hotdogs already have warning labels. Maybe they should check out the hotdog isle at the local deli!
Posted by: cindi | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:45 AM
I guess suggesting that parents cut them up into small pieces for little children was too much.
Posted by: Mikey NTH | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:55 AM
Why not just smoosh em all up and feed it back to them like a bird would do for their young.
I can just picture the trolls up chucking the mashed up meat and spitting it back into their kids mouths!!
ummm, ummmm, ummmm!!!!!
Posted by: SacTownMan | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 04:19 PM
Hot dogs have already been redesigned. They're called "bologna slices."
Posted by: BlogDog | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 05:20 PM