Hot dogs never hurt them. And now that they're older, I don't worry so much. But the American Academy of Pediatrics thinks hot dogs are so dangerous they should be reshaped and repackaged with prominant warning labels.
A vocal advocate for the changes is Joan Stavros Adler of Warren County, whose four-year-old son Eric died in 2001 after choking on a hot dog.
Foods that are round or cylindrical pose the greatest choking hazard according to experts. Hard candies and other foods should be flattened, they recommend. But so far, there's been no consensus on what hot dogs would look like if Oscar Mayer and other companies follow the academy's suggestions.
Would they make teenier wienies shaped like Sponge Bob for kids and leave the adult hot dogs alone? Or would they change them across the board?
And would that really make children safer? Or is it enough to warn parents and let them continue sawing hot dogs into pellets, like I did?
I always hated cutting up the hot dogs, especially when I had a cranky, hungry toddler to contend with. So I don't care if food makers have to shell out to invent a safer but weird-looking hot dog. If a child-friendly redesign saves parents some time and worry, I'm all for it.