A MIDDLE-AGED or elderly person, at a fashionable restaurant, is partaking of filet mignon, or perhaps broiled lobster or prime rib of beef. At the same time, he is conversing with companions at dinner. Suddenly, he ceases to eat and talk. The dinner companions are perplexed but not alarmed for there is no indication of distress. Then, the person suddenly collapses at the table. Attempts at resuscitation are made by the maître d'hôtel, waiters, and friends. In some instances, a physician may be present who also attempts to aid the stricken person. The ambulance arrives and the person is rushed to the nearest hospital emergency room where he is dead on arrival. The emergency room physician, or the family doctor, attributes death to natural causes and probably to coronary artery disease. The above is the characteristic story of death from asphyxiation due to occlusion of the airway by food. The