Japanese officials have urged the ageing nation to cut their rice cakes before eating them after three elderly people choked to death on the New Year’s delicacy.
Tokyo residents aged 75, 79 and 80 died of suffocation and 27 others were hospitalised over the holiday weekend after failing to swallow down the thick white cakes known as mochi, the fire department said on Monday.
”Some of them are still in serious condition after eating mochi,” a fire department spokesperson said.
”We are calling on people, especially elder residents, to cut mochi in small pieces when they eat it,” the spokesperson said.
During New Year, one of Japan’s biggest holidays, families traditionally cook ozouni soup, which is made of vegetables, with the sticky rice cakes inside. — Sapa-AFP