Most parents of young children keep a close eye on them when feeding time comes around. It’s human nature. However, sometimes children end up choking, and unfortunately for some, it was their last bite.

Associated Press writer Lindsey Tanner wrote a story on Feb. 21 about a new urge from American Academy of Pediatrics to put more choking warning labels on packaged food.

“Federal law requires choking warning labels on certain toys including small balls, balloons and games with small parts,” Tanner wrote.

“Unless food makers voluntarily put more warning labels on high-risk foods, there should be a similar mandate for food, the pediatrics academy says.”

For some reason, the pediatrics academy never mentioned that parents of young children should monitor what their children play with, or what they feed them.

So, what’s a high-risk food? Tanner listed: Hot dogs, whole grapes, raw carrots and apples.

According to Tanner’s article, doctors say that these high-risk foods should “be cut into pea-sized pieces for small children to reduce chances of choking.”

Perhaps cutting these “high-risk” foods into pea-sized pieces isn’t enough. Why would you just want to reduce the risk of your child choking on solid food when blenders can turn anything into a liquid?

Feeding tubes may serve as an adequate vehicle to deliver nutrition.

Tanner wrote, “When 4-year-old Eric Stavros Adler choked to death on a piece of hot dog, his anguished mother never dreamed that the popular kids’ food could be so dangerous.”

If you watch your child eat a hot dog, you should be sure they chew it thoroughly, and to make sure they don’t swallow huge chunks of semi-chewed bolus.

Hot dogs come wrapped in plastic air-tight packages, with written descriptions (in near-microscopic print size) of the ingredients and nutritional value. (As if we want to know what’s in them anyway.) There might be a tiny space for the choke-warning label to be displayed on the packaging.

Carrots also come in plastic packages, where a label could be displayed. But, what’s to be done about raw carrots that are placed in bulk bins in grocery stores? Will the Academy push for grocers to place choke-warning signs above carrot bins? It’s almost insulting.

Tanner also wrote, “of the 141 choking deaths in kids in 2006, 61 were food related.” For a country of this size, although it’s a tragic notion, 61 is not a very high number.

The reality is that even if there are choke-warning labels on food, unless the child is monitored, the child could still choke.

On alcoholic beverage and tobacco product labels, a Surgeon General’s Warning is printed to warn that consumption of those products is harmful to your health. Despite the warning, people still continue to purchase the products and complain that the taxes levied on them are ridiculous.

Tanner’s article also mentioned some commentary by Grocery Manufacturers Association spokesman Scott Openshaw, who said, “making parents aware of choking dangers is key to keeping kids safe.”

If you’re a parent and you are unaware that feeding anything to your child that isn’t mush could make them choke, you should not be a parent.

Also, if this “duh” of an idea becomes a reality, as a parent, you should make sure your child doesn’t choke on the food packaging material that the choke-warning label is printed on.