Peanut Butter Dose Is Lethal

Q. You’ve discussed remedies for hiccups in your column. You got a warning about eating peanut butter off a spoon and responded: “If someone has trouble swallowing, it would be prudent to avoid peanut butter. But for most folks, we can’t see how it would matter much if the peanut butter were on a piece of celery or just licked off a spoon.”
Actually, it could be a matter of life and death! I lost a good friend in January because she choked to death on two tablespoons of peanut butter. Her husband found her and by the time paramedics arrived she was brain dead.
I have no idea whether she was suffering from hiccups, but she certainly took too much peanut butter either for that or for a snack.

Everyone I’ve talked to has been horrified by this. I suspect she might have survived if she’d eaten her two spoonfuls gradually on crackers or celery, or maybe stayed away from peanut butter altogether.

This is the only time I’ve heard of such an event, but…considering how the story ended, it might be worth revisiting in your column. My friend did not have problems swallowing! She was a very bright, capable person in her early 60s.
A. Thank you for alerting us to this danger. We will no longer suggest peanut butter as a hiccup remedy.