Which foods are choking hazards?

What the evidence says

The riskiest foods are round, hard, small, or sticky ones that can block a young child's airway. The Canadian Paediatric Society names nuts, popcorn, hot dogs, grapes, and raw carrots as common causes of choking in young children. Other high-risk foods include whole cherry/grape tomatoes, hard raw fruit like apple chunks, whole or chopped nuts and seeds, chunks of nut butter, tough meat chunks, chips/pretzels/popcorn, hard candy, marshmallows, and chewing gum.

To make foods safer: cut round foods like grapes, cherry tomatoes, and sausages into small pieces or quarters rather than round slices, cook hard vegetables until soft, remove bones and skin from meat and fish, and spread (don't spoon) nut butter thinly rather than giving it in chunks.

Beyond food, small objects like coins, button batteries, marbles, and small toy parts are also major choking hazards for children under 3, since anything that can fit through an empty toilet paper roll is considered a risk.

Always have your child sit upright and stay supervised while eating, avoid eating in a moving car or while lying down, and keep high-risk foods away until your child is chewing well, generally by age 4.