Article

Lychee-Flavored Gel Candies: A Potentially Lethal Snack for Infants and Children

Authors:
  • The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
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Abstract

A 10 month-old infant was given a Lychee Mini Fruity Gel (AP Frozen Foods Ltd, Thailand) by his mother while shopping in a supermarket. The child was sucking on the gel when he began to choke and have difficulty breathing. Emergency medical services were called, and paramedics found the child to be in respiratory arrest with a palpable pulse of 40 beats/min. They transported him to the pediatric emergency department, performing bag-valve-mask ventilation with a manual resuscitator. The child was intubated and taken to the operating room for bronchoscopy and then the pediatric intensive care unit for critical care. The initial report was that he choked on gelatin. However, he was found to have aspirated a large hard gel found in the lychee-flavored candy that totally obstructed his airway. This is the third case of aspiration of a gel candy we have seen in 5 years. Parents should be warned not to give these candies to children younger than 5 years.

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... The committee developed detailed definitions for each level of the draft Framework, based on (a) the measurement activities conducted at the 2015 face-to-face meeting; (b) drawing from descriptors in all available national standards documents; and (c) the literature describing properties that increase risk for choking [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. The draft definitions included a warning after Level 6 to clarify that the physiological skills of being able to both bite and chew ...
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Popular Asian snack is at the center of a choking suitAvailable athttp
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FDA issues a second warning and an import alert about konjac mini-cup candies that pose a choking risk
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