1-Year-Old Boy Chokes to Death After Eating 2 Centimeter-Diameter Cheese Ball

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan

A 1-year-old boy has died after choking on a ball of cheese, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan announced on Friday. The cheese was about 2 centimeters in diameter.

The center has received three other reports of choking involving cheese balls, but this is the first confirmed case of a fatality.

According to the center, the boy began choking after eating the ball of cheese at dinner in August. Unable to get the obstruction out, he was taken to hospital by ambulance but died 12 days later.