Eli5: how come when we get food down the wrong pipe we don’t die of a lung infection?

Question

How come when food goes in the lungs and we choke, the food doesn’t eventually rot in the lungs? How do we get it out or does it decompose

In: Biology

Answer 1

The first reason is the coughing gets it out. The second reason the food leaves is your body has lots of functions to get foreign debris out of the lungs.

The choking is from the wind pipe being clogged. It’s not hard to pop something out of a clogged pipe by coughing. That gets most of it out.

Secondarily, your lungs had cilia that move foreign debris up and out of the lungs. The body will form mucus to trap it, making it easier to move and cough up.

Also, if you choked, then coughed up the big piece, your body usually makes a couple more big coughs for good measure.