PARENTS are being warned never to let their kids eat grapes, amid choking fears.
It comes as a graphic X-ray highlighting the dangers has been doing the rounds on social media.
The image was originally posted by a blogger, keen to remind parents not to let their kids chow down on whole grapes.
And the warning is also relevant for baby tomatoes, experts say, who advise chopping the healthy snacks in half for all little ones.
Kids’ doctors have warned of the dangers in the past. More than half of all fatal choking episodes in kids under five, were caused by food, a study found.
And grapes were the third most common cause of food-related choking – after hot dogs and sweets.
But they warned at the time, public awareness of the hazard food can pose, was not widespread enough.
A child’s airways is small, they don’t have a full set of teeth to help them chew properly, and their swallow reflexes are underdeveloped compared with adults.
That, and kids are typically easily distracted, which increases their risk of choking, the study’s authors warned.
Grapes tend to be larger than a kids’ airway, and unlike something like a nut – which has a rough edge – the smooth edge of a grape can help it form a tight seal, lodging it in an airway.
Not only does this block the airway completely, it can make it difficult for a doctor to remove without specialist equipment.
Reacting to the study at the time, Dr Julie-Ann Maney, speaking on behalf of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Any injury, accident and death is a tragedy but it is even more so when that injury, accident or death could have been prevented.
