A first aid expert has slammed the new advert for Maltesers Buttons saying people risk choking to death if they throw food into each other’s mouths.
The ad shows two women sitting at a table when one playfully flicks a chocolate button into her friend’s mouth as if they were playing Tiddlywinks.
But qualified nurse and first aid trainer Emma Hammett says trying this in real life could be a potentially fatal choking hazard.
She warns that 85 per cent of all choking deaths are caused by food and, while the game is posed as harmless fun, it could easily go wrong.
In her blog, First Aid for Life, Ms Hammett says if the ‘dangerous game’ catches on it could ‘undoubtedly’ lead to people choking to death.
But sweets company Mars, which makes the treat, has hit back saying the clip is ‘lighthearted’ and ‘playful’.
The new advert has been posted to YouTube and is a short clip set in a coffee shop in which a woman flicks a chocolate button her friend’s mouth.
The other woman catches the button on her tongue and eats it – but the game might not always go so smoothly and people should avoid playing with food, Ms Hammett said.
She told MailOnline: ‘The new playful Maltesers chocolate buttons advert demonstrates a dangerous game that increases the risk of choking.
‘One of the adverts shows someone playing tiddlywinks and flicking a chocolate button straight into a girls mouth.
‘Should this catch on as a craze it could undoubtedly lead to fatalities from choking.’
The ad shows two people sitting at a table when one playfully flicks a chocolate button into their friend’s mouth as if they were playing Tiddlywinks
The other woman catches the button in her mouth, but Ms Hammett says trying the game in real life could be a potentially fatal choking hazard
More than eight in 10 deaths caused by choking are down to food getting stuck in the windpipe, Ms Hammett says
She says throwing anything into the air and catching it in your mouth is an ‘extremely dangerous activity’ which can be fatal.
’85 per cent of choking deaths are caused by food’
More than eight in 10 deaths caused by choking – 85 per cent – are a result of food becoming stuck in the windpipe, Ms Hammett said.
People choke when something becomes lodged in or blocks their trachea – the windpipe in the throat – and stops air reaching the lungs.
Although it can be stopped by removing the blockage, choking can kill if people do not start breathing again quickly – irreversible brain damage can begin within minutes of losing oxygen.
‘Chocolates and sweets are the perfect shape and size to fit in a windpipe’
Ms Hammett added: ‘We are already aware some foods are classic choking hazards because of their size and shape, such as grapes.
‘However, many of us are unaware that chocolate and sweets can also be choking hazards for precisely the same reason – they are the perfect shape and size to be inhaled into a windpipe.
‘Choking incidents can happen quickly and be extremely worrying.
‘Many choking accidents occur simply though bad luck. Playing aiming games with sweets simply increases the risk of a choking emergency happening.’
‘We encourage consumers to take care when enjoying our products’
But the chocolate treat’s manufacturers, Mars Wrigley Confectionery, disagrees that its advert is promoting dangerous behaviour.
A spokesperson said: ‘This short lighthearted clip is part of a wider series of films featuring people showing their playful side with MALTESERS® Buttons.
‘We encourage our consumers to always take care when enjoying our products and will always listen to their feedback on our advertising.’