It's easy to laugh over the killer-hot-dog news that hit the headlines that have been fueled by the American Academy of Pediatrics' new recommendation that to prevent choking, hot dogs should bear a warning label. What would it say—"Choking on this hot dog may be hazardous to your child's health"?

U. S. News contributor Nancy Shute posts, however, it is likely that most parents have had the awful experience of witnessing a child's face suddenly turn red when a piece of food "went down the wrong pipe”.

The current figures reveal choking as a major cause of injury and death in young children, and food is one of the main culprits, attributed to 60 percent of the 17,000 choking cases that land kids in the emergency room every year.

The statistics depict that between 66 and 77 children under age 10 die from choking on food. The cylindrical shape that seems custom-made to lodge in a kid's throat, hot dogs are commonly linked with fatal choking among children.

According to the Hot Dog and Sausage Council Americans are reported to eat 20 billion hot dogs each year. Joey Chestnut is responsible for about half of that on July 4 in Coney Island.