Rice Cakes Deadly Holiday Treat

Four elderly Tokyo residents choked to death while eating New Year’s rice cakes, a traditional delicacy in Japan.

The deaths occurred during the first two days of 1996. Ten others were treated at hospitals for having the food lodged in their throats, Koji Matsumoto of the Tokyo Fire Department said.

Japanese eat the sticky cakes along with other traditional New Year’s dishes. The cakes are about an inch square and have the consistency of paste.

Five people died from the cakes during the three-day New Year holiday last year, Matsumoto said.