Thank you for your question. The intention of this item is to ensure that food does not end up becoming a choking hazard for the children in your care. There are several ways to prevent this. When we say "meat", we are referring to prepared cut up pieces, such as chicken bites, hot dog pieces, or as you mentioned, a stew or soup with meat, etc. If you provide children a hamburger patty and they are taking bites, that would not be considered a choking hazard for a preschool class.
Both of the other items mentioned - baby carrots and hard pretzels - would be considered choking hazards as indicated by the assessment item language. By "chunks of raw carrots", we believe that baby carrots would fall into this category. Similarly, "hard, small, traditionally shaped pretzels" (in the item guidance) would also be considered at a higher risk for a choking incident. We would advise against both of these food items in early childhood classrooms as evidenced by the best practice listed for item 5B.14.
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Kristen Johnson
NAEYC Accreditation of Early Learning Programs
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-12-2019 02:00 PM
From: Jennie Morrell
Subject: NAEYC Accreditation Food Choking Hazards - Need Clarification
We have also wondered about baby carrots and hard pretzels. Would those count as chunks of raw carrots? Are the small pretzel twists okay?
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Jennie Morrell
Andover Elementary School
Andover CT
Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2017 09:36 PM
From: Erin Daddio
Subject: NAEYC Accreditation Food Choking Hazards - Need Clarification
I was looking at the NAEYC guidelines for food and I happened upon the below criterion. I'm a little confused by the "meat" aspect of it. If my classroom of threes is having hamburgers does that mean I need to cut it into pieces that can be swallowed whole? The children would be making a sandwich and biting it. Or does this only apply to something like chunks of beef in a stew? Thank you for any help!
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Erin D.
New Jersey
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