Tasty, but not entirely harmless: Two O-Mochis lie on a plate.
Image: dpa
Nine people had to be hospitalized around the Lunar New Year for suffocation from sticky rice dumplings called o-mochi. Any help came too late for a woman.
IIn Tokyo, an elderly woman choked on a rice dumpling on New Year’s Day. As the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun reported on Thursday, the woman, who was in her 90s, was taken to the hospital with suffocation after a sticky rice ball called o-mochi got stuck in her throat. Any help came too late for them.
In total, nine women and men between the ages of 28 and 93 had to go to the hospital on the three New Year holidays in the country’s capital alone because of suffocation as a result of eating o-mochi, it was said.
Every year anew – mostly older – Japanese people choke on the dumplings made of mashed rice, which are traditionally served on New Year’s Day. Although everyone in the country is aware of the danger and deadly attacks of suffocation occur again and again, hardly anyone wants to do without o-mochi for the New Year celebrations.
In order to prevent accidents, the media provide information on tips for emergencies every year. Experts advise cutting the rice dumplings into bite-sized pieces and chewing them slowly before eating. The throat should be moistened with tea, for example, before swallowing.
