Video-endoscopic comparison of swallowing waxy rice mochi and waxy wheat mochi: improvement of a traditional Japanese food that presents a choking hazard.

Abstract

Mochi is highly cohesive and adhesive, and easy to choke on. Many of the fatal suffocation accidents with mochi occur in the elderly aged 65 years or older. These circumstances prompted us to investigate a special property of waxy wheat which is similar in texture to waxy rice, but is less cohesive and adhesive. We compared the differences in chewing and swallowing movements associated with eating waxy rice mochi and waxy wheat mochi between healthy adults and healthy elderly. Healthy elderly chewed mochi more and longer than healthy adults. Although there was no difference in the number of chewing cycles or total duration of chewing between the two types of mochi, waxy wheat mochi was easier to chew and left less pharyngeal residue. These findings lead us to suggest that waxy wheat mochi is promising as a food that is easy to swallow and difficult to choke on.