By Michael Morton
While stopping short of an outright ban on the mint, which also killed a 5-year-old Bronx girl days earlier, several elected officials have responded with proposals to ensure that the deaths are not repeated. City Councilwoman Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), for one, has introduced a bill that would stop merchants from selling certain types of candies deemed to be risky by federal health officials to customers age 14 years and under. Only candies that are round and between three-quarters of an inch and 1 3/4 of an inch would be affected; anything larger would be unlikely to slide down a child's throat.”The recent choking deaths of two young children tragically brought to light the danger of Jumbo Mint Ball candies,” Quinn said, referring to the large peppermint candy, made by the Colombian company Colombina and sold in the city's bodegas. “In order to ensure that more families do not have to experience the horror of losing a child, we must outlaw the sale of this dangerous product.”Festus Morrison's daughter, Ashely, died May 12 after one of the large mints became lodged in her throat and efforts at the Heimlich maneuver and CPR failed. A 5-year-old Bronx girl, Jocelys Santiago, died in a similar manner two days earlier while sucking on the same kind of candy.Quinn's proposal is based on toy size recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control. In addition to the sales restrictions, her bill would require merchants to put up signs warning about choking hazards among children. First-time offenders would be given a warning, repeat violators fined $250. Store owners who put the signs up but are still caught selling to children would be fined and charged with a misdemeanor that could land them in jail for up to a year.During the bill's introduction, a resolution was also passed calling on the federal government to require warning labels on potentially dangerous candies, a requirement outside the Council's purview. In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) called on the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to band together to develop warning labels and work with manufacturers to make safe items and increase public awareness.”What makes these deaths particularly tragic is that they were completely preventable,” Clinton said, noting that more than 70 children a year choke to death. In the state Assembly, the Health Committee is working on a bill to establish an office of choking hazard evaluation within the state Department of Health and join forces with other agencies in creating labels and warnings.
