Whole grapes are a choking hazard - right?!

[Cutthegrapes]

So, why do I find myself unwittingly engaged in a battle with one of the UK's largest pub and restaurant chains to get them to cut the grapes in a children's fruit salad? AIBU to think that it wouldn't be easier cut the grapes than perform the Heimlich on a preschooler in a restaurant?

If you're already thinking, 'Wait, this guy has literally just joined mumsnet to have a moan', then you're not far off. I've joined Mumsnet because I'm a concerned father and I'm not being taken seriously by Whitbread. I was just a concerned father when I raised this issue with Whitbread, following a meal in a Table Table restaurant. When they fobbed me off until their 'next menu review', but thanked me for raising a 'presentation' issue, I became an angry and concerned father. After my email to the CEO and Senior Management of Premier Inns and Restaurants went unanswered, I became a determined father. It's genuinely a life and death issue and it cannot be ignored because it's too much hassle to take a few extra seconds when preparing food for children.

RoSPA and the Child Accident Prevention Trust and may other charities have run campaigns encouraging parents to cut grapes before feeding them to children. Children have nearly died and children have actually died as a result of getting grapes lodged in their windpipes - just do a quick Google and it's not hard to see what can happen if you don't cut the grapes!

I know it sounds trivial, I know I probably sound histrionic, but frankly, it's a bigger issue than that and I cannot think of a reason why any food outlet could defend a decision to not cut the grapes in dishes specifically designed for children. Accidents do not wait for 'menu reviews'. AIBU to think that a responsible organisation might have jumped on the opportunity to do the right thing, simply ask their pubs and restaurants to cut the grapes and take advantage of the good publicity? I'm sure they're careful with nuts in their meals, so why be so irresponsible with grapes?

If you'd like to read my original post and copy of the letter to Whitbread's CEO, you can find them in the visitor posts on the 'Table Table Pub Restaurants' Facebook page. www.facebook.com/TableTable/posts/1164224453670659

AIBU? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Alex

I think a petition is a great idea but who would it be addressed to?

I agree with you.

And for people saying you should cut them when they arrive... that doesn't help the kid who will be DEAD because their parent didn't bother to cut them.

The restaurant pre-chopping them will save the child. Don't penalise the child because their parent might not know/bother to cut the grapes.

Yes, userWhatever, a single baked bean is what the child's parent reported as the obstruction that was found. No one who knew the family will forget it.

I have an perfectly normal and rational irrational fear of grapes (apart from the ones that have been miraculously turned in to wine obvs....) I hate it even now when my DDs have them. And they're teenagers!

Yes, userWhatever, a single baked bean is what the child's parent reported as the obstruction that was found. No one who knew the family will forget it

I'm sure you're saying that in good faith, but think about the size of a single baked bean. It's tiny.

Exactly Wacky. I mean it's chilling really that's it's just fine, apparently, if children die as long as the blame can be pinned on an unaware or careless parent.

I've often thought about it and wondered how it caused such devastation.

I think in the context of a fruit salad they should be cut. When my eldest was four a friend came on a playdate. I hadn't cut the grapes as I normally would as friends mum brought them and dished them out. Normally we sit to eat but excitement of having her friend there made her jiggle about a bit more than usual. My daughter went silent and wide eyed as she started to choke. By some fluke she tripped over as she moved towards me and the grape flew out of her mouth and across the room. I knew the risks but thought as a one off it would be OK, a bit like you might in a restaurant.

The skin on grapes and cherry tomatoes make them fit so snugly in the windpipe and are difficult for paramedics to grip. They shouldn't be served whole in a child's ready to eat meal. I would avoid ordering food that contained them for this reason. We were so lucky.

My nephew then aged 9 was throwing grapes up in the air and catching them in his mouth. One got stuck. His face as he tried to cough it out I ( and my dds then 8&6) will not forget . Thankfully thx to prompt action by his father it shot out of his mouth and his gasp for breath , the sound was almost unbelievable. I agree that in achilds fruit salad it is essential that they are cut lengthways . The same for cherry tomatoes in salad or as decoration on dishes...

if parents hand whole grapes to children and they choke on them whose fault is it?

Except that it is not about assigning blame, but rather the reduction of the risk of death by choking for as many small children as possible.

YY Satsuki

Totally totally with you op

My friend's nephew died choking on a grape aged 4. As a result, I would not feed any grape to any aged child without cutting it up. If they are not pre cut up then it is the adult's responsibility who is with the child at the time.

Except that it is not about assigning blame, but rather the reduction of the risk of death by choking for as many small children as possible

Indeed, and there is a simple way to reduce that risk for ALL children: their parents!

It is NOT societies responsibility to remove all risk for your children, it is yours.

But user, why shouldn't an obvious risk within society be mitigated? Other risks are; do you object to this as well?

You haven't thought this through. Why do you think a pub should be told they have to cut grapes, and not anywhere else? Why do you think their costs and profits shouldn't come into it?

Of courses risks should be mitigated, in the simplest and easiest manner to all people: simply ask that the kitchen cut your childrens grapes because you think your children need their grapes cut.

This is simpler, safer, more effective and lower cost that expecting everyone to cut grapes for all consumers just in case they happen to be intended for very small children.

Common sense, people!

But my common sense says that it's a children's menu, therefore the food should be suitable for children.

Yup, that seems like common sense to me too Improving.

I don't have ideological purity to safeguard though.

My 2 year old was given whole grapes by the hospital during an inpatient stay on a paediatrics ward. I was extremely surprised and immediately cut them with a knife. I agree that all grapes should be served pre-cut where ever they are served.

I would put a note in writing to the hospital about that.

I think I should mention it to the hospital as a concern. They were given in those mixed apple and grape snack bags.

In 16 years of working in paediatrics I have never known or heard of a child choking on a grape. Nuts, seeds, bits of carrot, Lego, those foil decorative stars, but never a grape. The only time I've ever heard of grapes being a concern is on Mumsnet. Just to clarify I did a literature search on Pubmed to see what was there. I searched "grapes choking" and returned 10 results. Total. Out of several million articles.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/?term=grapes+choking

It wasn't even limited to children. One study found 4 cases of death by grape aspiration out of a total of 2165 deaths by aspiration over the course of a 16 year period. The risk expressed here on MN is vastly overstated compared to the reality. Most children chew their food and crush the grape with the first bite of their molars.

Quite frankly to cut up grapes for adults is the most ridiculous thing I've read on MN.

Notbad Stop spouting real facts from proper studies

Isn't it important to see what the studies actually say, rather than just remark on the number of them. 2 abstracts From the link:

Fatal and near fatal grape aspiration in children

Choking remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in young children. Whole seedless grapes are a popular fruit snack to give to young children.We present 3 cases of grape aspiration, discussing the emergency care from basic life support to specialist treatment.The lessons learned will be applicable to a wide range of health professionals from frontline emergency medical service personnel to physicians and nurses working in a hospital.

Pediatric exposure to choking hazards is associated with parental knowledge of choking hazards

CONCLUSIONS: Parental knowledge of CHF is incomplete. The consumption of CHF in children under 4 is significantly associated with decreased parental knowledge. Therefore, more parental education is needed.

Yes, it is important to read them. Of those 10 citations a few can be discarded. Important details from those studies show that choking on grapes happens in small numbers, the majority of food related choking episodes are in infants rather than toddlers/pre-school children (or adults) and other foods are a cause at much higher frequency. Here's a snapshot of a table from another study. There are so many other things that are more likely to be a problem yet there's this weird fixation on grapes.