Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi have issued a 'swallow with care' warning for momos after it found that a man choked to death while eating momos in Delhi.
The experts said that momos, a popular street food, have a smooth and slippery surface that can cause choking in a person if not chewed before swallowing.
The experts issued this warning after a man was brought dead to AIIMS, whose autopsy revealed that a particularly large 5x3 cm momo was stuck in his windpipe, which choked him to death, according to Mint newspaper.
The AIIMS report said that the man, in his 50s, was drunk and was eating momos at a shop in Delhi when he fell.
"The size of a dumpling is 5x3cm which is quite a big size and people should be aware when eating such type of food. Whenever such incidents happen, eye-witnesses should immediately perform Heimlich manoeuvre- a first aid medical procedure which is used to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects," said Dr Abhisehk Yadav, additional professor at forensic department at AIIMS.
The AIIMS report has been published in the June issue of the Journal of Forensic Imaging.
The report's emphasis was on the way to conduct the autopsy, so as to not miss causes of death in cases such of this man in his 50s who died after choking on a momo.
"An inexperienced forensic pathologist may not suspect the hidden cause of death and easily miss the finding, if thorough dissection is not done," said the report.
The AIIMS experts found the momo via a CT scan in the autopsy. Such findings cannot be detected in traditional autopsies, said Dr Yadav.
