13 elderly people taken to hospital after choking on 'mochi;' 2 die
TOKYO —
Emergency services in Tokyo said Monday that 13 elderly people were taken to hospital in the Tokyo area after choking on traditional “mochi” rice cake on New Year’s Day.
The cakes, a traditional New Year’s food, cause choking incidents among elderly people every year. Police said that of the 13 people taken to hospital, two died, according to NTV.
Authorities appealed to people across Japan to cut up their mochi into small chunks and to eat it with great care.
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4
Yubaru
This happens yearly and it's always sad. Authorities should try a new tactic, quit telling people how to eat it, and use a little reverse psychology and TELL folks to eat it and die! Maybe then it will get their attention.
0
Nessie
No comparison with the mochi death toll for 2010?
0
Elbuda Mexicano
Yubaru makes a very good point, many old people have really bad teeth, or just dentures and even if you have GOOD TEETH eating mochi is not easy, all sticky and my guess these poor old folk get all excited about oshogatsu and forget how bad their teeth, dentures etc..and mix it all up with sticky mochi and plenty of booze, just asking for granpa to end up dead. RIP??
-2
kwatt
It happens every year. No wonder even if some elderly die of sticky mochi.
2
jinjapan
maybe try making bite size mochi for the elderly .
3
Seawolf
I guess it's the same with "old man falls off roof during typhoon": these guys think just because it was good one year ago it's ok this year too. Sadly the body gets weak faster than the mind. One of them was 101 years it said on the news, sad way to go.
2
pamelot
Or, vice versa.
Cut in smaller pieces.
-7
MaboDofuIsSpicy
Arrest the people that offer it to them for man slaughter.
4
Serrano
Be careful, people!
I made the mistake of baking my mochi directy on the oven-toaster grill plate instead of putting it on a piece of foil, now I've got cement-like mochi on my oven-toaster grill plate!
2
smithinjapan
Sad to read about this every year, but every year you know it's going to happen. People simply don't heed advice and ignore the practical; it may be 'natsukashiiiiii!', and traditions are nice, but when outdated or put you in harm's way you need to rethink them a little.
Maybe they should ask shops, stalls, and other places that sell them to be eaten immediately (like an ozoni stall at a temple) should be required to use only mini, cut up mochi, or cut the muchi up before selling if it's for seniors. Old age homes should DEFINITELY be required to cut them up. My guess is most of these deaths happen at home and people just don't think before giving it to ol' gramps.
2
BurakuminDes
What a shock! I reckon tomorrow's headline will bring yet another massive surprise: "Elderly Man dies after falling off roof while clearing off snow."
Anyway, RIP old people.
3
kaminarioyaji
Yubaru. Agreed, it's sad, but why don't people learn?
Everyone knows the risks of eating Mochi, and at their ripe age they certainly should have. No one would knowingly eat Fugu from an unlicensed restaurant, and yet people still try to eat Mochi whole... (shakes head wearily)
0
Saulo Akazawa
More explicit warning labels????
3
southsakai
Be careful with mochi folks. I'm only 33 and very good with my mouth and chewing skills but mochi really freaks me out each year when i eat it. Don't play games with the mochi!
2
BurakuminDes
Don't worry SouthSakai - luckily for me I really don't rate mochi as a foodstuff. I find it too bland anyway.
0
Weasel
Perhaps this needs to be another age-restricted product?
-4
The Munya Times
I have no idea why people eat mochi. I tried it once only to spit it out in a few seconds. Its shape is boring, its consistence it unpleasant and sticky, it has no taste at all and doesn't look good, hard to chew or swallow. There is nothing interesting about it. Not inviting for me.
But I understand them. It's human nature. Some people prefer to die by performing bungee-jump, others choose to die by performing big jumps with their motorcycle, again others risk their lives with many useless life threatening attraction in order to enjoy their elevated adrenalin level... and some prefers mochi. Have a nice meal. What can we do?
I don't consider myself coward or disregarding of traditions but there's no way I would eat mochi. I create troubles for myself enough inadvertently, no way I would do it if I know about the danger.
I suggest people across japan cut up their mochi into small chunks and throw them into the garbage bin.
A humble contribution from amateurish Munya that can save dozens of lives here.
3
cleo
I like mochi. Not so much the white stuff, but genmai mochi or zakkoku mochi which have more taste to them. Very nice in a nabe, pushed into a bean-curd 'bag' in oden, or smothered in soy sauce and wrapped in seaweed. But take small bites, and chew well. (Goes for most food, I suppose..) And don't offer it to Great-Granma.
0
The Munya Times
I like caviar with campaign. Mochi is a solidified glue. No kidding, rice is a basic commidity for different type of glues. You can dissolve it in lukewarm water and use it as poster glue, alternatively you can add some sugar and vodka, shaken, not stirred and can be fine on the rocks. Less hazardous that way.
I love Japanese food, mochi is the only one I will never try again.
0
some14some
perhaps this count 'two' is lowest in Japanese history.
2
Yubaru
I would have to say that it's due to the thinking of "Oh crap that that only happens to other people" mentality.
2
Yubaru
You say you have no idea why people eat mochi, and then you say later that you are not a coward or disregarding of traditions.........
Guess what? People eat mochi because of the tradition of it being a New Year's celebratory food. If you understand that, then you should understand why people eat mochi here.
Just because you don't like it doesnt mean others shouldn't. It's a matter of choice AND tradition.
-1
philly1
I am vindicated. This stuff can kill you. This is why I always discretely deposit this calcified blob of glue in a potted plant or waste bucket in the bathroom. When offered another, I demur. Gomenasai. I have already been too greedy and eaten too many.
1
The Munya Times
Yes, a tradition of dying each year. When will be enough? When will they learn?
Call me arrogant but for me life has priority before tradition.
0
WilliB
It is a local tradition. Every year we get the mochi deaths. I stay away from the stuff, so this is one thing I don´t need to worry about. To those who eat it: Keep a vacuum cleaner handy.
0
Kapuna
Two died after choking on mochi. Two killed on way to shrine by drunk driver. What's the difference? When your time is up, it's up.
0
It"S ME
RIP.
I like mochi but prefer Yaki-mochi in my Osoni, we use the round ones.
Another way to eat freshly pounded mochi is to form a ball with things like Kimchi, etc in the centre. Easy to over-cook the store bought stuff though.
For kids we always chopped them into small pieces before cooking, easier to swallow and always have mochi with some liquids.
2
Yubaru
Yes people die every year from eating mochi, they probably never considered that it would happen to them and it's a shame. Totally preventable, However there is much less of a chance of dying from eating mochi than walking across the street, or drinking and driving, a plane crash, cancer, or a host of other "preventable" manners of death.
Point is, people inherently and unwittingly take chances all the time in their lives, I feel quite sure that these folks never considered the possibility of dying from eating mochi, nor the people who may have given it to them.
Like I wrote in my OP, the "authorities" need to use a different approach in warning everyone, particularly the elderly about the dangers associated with this particular food. But no matter how they they warn them, there will ALWAYS be folks that choose to ignore the warnings and make a choice, even knowing it may be a bad one.
Human do that all the time, not just here in Japan, and to answer your question, "When will they learn?" Probably never.
1
Patrick Smash
Mochi is unbelievably foul stuff. If it was nice, people would try and make me eat it more than once a year, but thankfully it's not and they don't. Guess it's a tradition.
4
Yubaru
There are a number of different ways to eat mochi, and believe me that it all depends upon who prepares it that the taste chances quite dramatically. Usually mochi is made with a particular type of rice or rice flour, I would have to say that to the uninitiated, while they may be able to eat rice as it is, the glutinous texture of the pounded rice is a strange sensation in one's mouth. But really it's just rice, a bit sweeter mind you, but just rice.
Now then take that same mochi, grill it until the outsides get crispy, maybe add a bit of a teriyaki type sauce, or plain old sugar and soy sauce, and the flavor changes immensely. I am quite sure that there are all types of "foul" foods throughout the world, and maybe it's just the use of the word itself that bugs me, but calling mochi foul somehow seems to me at least as going overboard. However to each his or her own.
1
Andrew Matthews
For the first time this year I bought mochi for my wife and myself. I enjoyed it; different from American fruitcake (inedible) and UK fruitcake (soft, midly alcoholic and covered in bulletproof icing). Traditions change with each country, yes, I am sure it can be dangerous, but it is not like it is an unknown surprise. How many people died of other causes? Two people we already know of mentioned on this new outlet were killed indirectly due to alcohol.
When you take a step back and take a broader look, two people dying because they were doing something they wanted to, is less of a concern than people dying because of others doing what they wanted to. I know which my choice would be. Having said that, my sympathies with the departed.
2
edojin
I have read before where a vacuum cleaner can be used to dislodge mochi and other kinds of stuff that get stuck in the throat. So if you have an oldster eating mochi in your home, keep your vacuum cleaner nearby just to be on the safe side. And if the vacuum sucks out false teeth, I guess they can be pulled out of the dust collector bag okay ...
4
Disillusioned
Am having a mochi party this evening. There are no elderly people coming, but I will be keeping the vacuum cleaner handy just in case.
2
hapa-girl
I promise I am not joking when I say, dying of mochi eating at new years is my chosen way to go. I love mochi (since I was a kid) and I love new years. When I'm about 80, I wouldn't mind chewing my favourite food, surrounded by my family during my favourite holiday and die.
2
Ranger_Miffy2
I don't get it. Do these oldsters die because they were eating mochi alone and no one was there give them the Heimlich maneuver?
2
Himajin
No, Miffy. It just sticks so in the throat that they can't cough it up, and the Heimlich maneuver doesn't work either.
-1
Cricky
Every year, darwins theory at it's most obvious
-1
The Munya Times
I can't believe this. I thought I was arrogant and sarcastic in my first post when I wrote:
Only to find out that it is true beyond sarcasm as it was confirmed by another poster
hapa-girlJan. 03, 2012 - 03:03PM JST
Speechless. I hope that was another sarcasm.
2
MaboDofuIsSpicy
If you have any gaps in your shower grout, try it. It works well.
I like eating it over cooked though and dipped in shoyu.
0
Foxie
Cutting the mochi into little pieces might be hard to do for the elderly., even I find it hard to break the pre-incised ones into 4. They should sell smaller mochis for the elderly. RIP
If I am addicted to anything, it has to be mochi. I love eating them in all kinds of forms and tastes and I really have to control myself a lot when I see some somewhere I haven't tried yet.
3
Elbuda Mexicano
In front of Shinjuku station great yaki mochi wrapped in nori with a bit of Kikkoman!! Nice and hot!! Too bad these old people died.
1
Charles M Burns
The reward of eating the stuff isn't worth the risk.
3
cleo
Hardly, since it's the oldies who die and they've already done all the procreating they're going to do. Darwin don't work with the over-60s.
0
sayonarajapan
heimlich didn't work so they whipped out the vacuum cleaner and shoved it down their throats... Should've read their sas survival guide and performed an emergency tracheotomy!! A sharp knife and a tube or ballpen....hey presto. But there again knowing japanese people no one would have the courage to do it so they would've spent ages deciding with jyanken!!
0
LuckyLangers
Once again, not a single intelligent comment in the bloggers here. Take a moment to google and learn the Heimlich maneuver. You will likely save someone's life one day. If the people's 'friends' knew such, they would still be alive. I even performed it on myself after choking on a 'barbeque shape' in Melbourne in August 2011. 5 other people were there, and no-one knew what to do, but stared in horror. When you are really choking, you can't talk, and the situation is serious, but simple to learn. Good luck.
1
Ranger_Miffy2
I've seen mochi sheets with the dotted breakage lines make very small, oldster-sized bits. But for pity's sake, a good kitchen knife does the trick as well.
2
LuckyLangers
HimajinJAN. 03, 2012 - 04:28PM JST With some reading you would know that you calmly tell the person choking, I am going to hit 5 times on your back between your shoulder blades. A solid strike per hit, one second gap between strikes, using the palm of your hands. That will dislodge most items. From there if it doesn't work, you do the Heimlich maneuver, as per my previous post. Stop being such an negative expert champ?
-1
multitasker
Mochi + Nihonshu= Early Crematorium!
-1
Ah_so
Relax - 2 people died out of how many elderly? I think there are 20m over the age of 70 in Japan. I suspect a majority eat mochi at New Year. 2 died. A one in 10m chance of dying if elderly. It's hardly juggling with chainsaws.
Yes, a few people die each year, but they have to go in one way or another.
1
Blair Herron
The elderlies have to be careful with omochi, hard candy, odango, daifuku, konnyaku jelly, and some swallowed false teeth, according to emergency unit.
1
whiskeysour
**Mochi of death ** Mochi burgers. They should pick at the mochi with there hands.
It's funny how mochi is made. hit the rice with a wooden log. Splash water at it flip it over repeat cycle.
1
whiskeysour
I will make a youtube video in how to eat mochi.
0
gelendestrasse
Only two? That has to be a record low number. Still sad but it's better than it used to be.
0
LH10
love my mochi and if i die then so be it. still it's funny lol! RIP
-2
Poke
Hmmmm, can we hand out free mochi everyday at old folk's homes and to elderly shut-ins? Its free and rice-based, would definitely be a hit. Just trying to solve this aging society problem in my own way.
By the way, 2 out of 13 is pathetic. I truly hope that no young and productive members of society missed out of life-saving emergency treatment because the ambulance was taking great grandfather to the hospital after his annual mochi bin. Triage, folks, its called triage.
0
Himajin
LuckyLangers, I've had a Red Cross First Aid license since 2000, renew it when I go back to the US. I am well-versed in the new method, and I see you are too, which is great! (it used to be only do the abdominal thrusts).
Mochi sticks! Compounding it is the fact that most elderly people are dehydrated to start with. People turned to using the vacuum cleaner precisely because the Heimlich maneuver hasn't a good success rate when it's mochi involved.
The way you describe it is correct, the newer protocol for the Heimlich maneuver, which changed in 2005 or 6.
1
stipend
Far as I can tell this report represents 'Tokyo'. Nationally mochi deaths check in at around 11 each year. Sometimes a bit higher sometimes lower. Give it a few days.
Mochi. Mochi is healthy. Mochi tastes great. There are many ways to prepare mochi. Yum-yum-yum. If you don't like mochi why stay in Japan? - especially at New Years! lol!
Yes, be careful eating the stuff. Know where your vacuum is - and where to plug it in. I have it on good authority that simple knowledge could save a life.
Mochi given to the elderly resulting in death is homicide. It needs to be considered at such. It's an old joke (about bumping granny off at the NY) and you really have to wonder. I for one am tired of it. Time for a change.
0
Blair Herron
I've heard that, too.
A vacuum cleaner saved the life of a 70-year-old man when it was used to suck out a rice cake ("mochi") on which he was choking.
http://www.icsmag.com/Articles/Breaking_News/172f28ded3d88010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____
0
sf2k
Sad, this happens every year without fail. Whatever happened to the Hemlich maneuver? That compresses the diaphragm to send air out involuntarily thus removing any blockage.
It's kinda like golfing in the rain and hoping to not get hit by lightening. You'd think people similarly would take themselves away from the risk
There should be a size restriction at the very least.
0
sf2k
I'm trying to think of how this food doesn't become illegal given the number of deaths associated with it? How does the manufacturer not ever get sued? Nor homemade persons put in jail? Even fugu cooks have to be licensed and even they make mistakes sometimes. Strange to die due to such an obvious lack of standards in public health.
0
Himajin
Contrary to foods like fugu, what makes mochi dangerous is the age of those eating it. Personally I'd hate a nanny state that would tell me what I could and could not eat, you'd also have to outlaw hard candy, which causes many more chocking incidents worldwide than mochi. How many million people eat mochi on New Years Day? And out of millions 13 choke and two die?
http://www.parentgiving.com/elder-care/avoiding-everyday-choking-hazards/
"According to the CDC's most recent data, there were 463 choking deaths related to food among people aged 65 to 85+ years old in 2006. There is a lot you can do to safeguard your loved ones and avoid this.
When you’re planning a menu for family get-togethers that will include elderly folks, consider what Ellen Krasnoff, RRT, says to avoid: steak, hot dogs, popcorn, peanut butter, and several other no-nos."
"The elderly are very dry, either from the saliva drying up due to aging or from certain medications. Krasnoff notes that the elderly very often have a hard candy in their mouth to keep the saliva going. “Without saliva, you can’t digest food,” she explains.
The trouble is, hard candy itself is a choking hazard. It's preferable for the elderly to have something that liquefies rapidly—such as a popsicle or ice cream, as recommended by their health care professional."
Some common choking hazards in the elderly-
0
krisallenation
This reminds me of a konnyaku jelly brand case in which just when the number of kids dying for suffocating while trying to swallow their products increased that they started industrializing them in a much smaller version of heart shaped konnyaku jelly. I haven't heard of any case of people dying while eating those jelly after that change in its fabrication. Also family should be careful and advise elderly or children to chew those types of food well before swallowing them, I think it's a kind of negligence when you know that some kind of foods are dangerous for certain people however do not care to what If something bad happens! I gave mochi to my son the first time when he was only three years old, I cut in real small pieces and told him to chew many many times before swallowing it otherwise it would stop in his throat and make him suffer before he died suffocated, he was so scared that he was careful enough to eat two pieces of mochi little by little and enjoy it.
0
Triumvere
ARRRGGG! Every year! And no one learns!
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