Warning after teenager dies during TikTok 'One Chip Challenge'

[Eleazar]

Warning after teenager dies during TikTok 'One Chip Challenge'

Parents told to keep children away from the dangerously spicy £20 tortilla sold in a box shaped like a coffin

Rozina Sabur
DEPUTY US EDITOR
5 September 2023






Parents are being warned about the dangers of TikTok’s “One Chip Challenge” after a boy died after eating a dangerously spicy tortilla.

The challenge involves eating what is said to be the hottest tortilla chip on the planet and then abstaining from eating or drinking anything to ease the pain for as long as possible.

Participants have shared their reactions on social media in a craze that has gained more than two billion views on TikTok.

Experts are warning against the trend after 14-year-old Harris Wolobah, of Worcester, Massachusetts, died on Sept 1 after taking part in the challenge.

The boy was taken ill at school with severe stomach ache and was taken home by his mother, Lois. He collapsed a few hours later and was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Ms Wolobah told NBC10 Boston that the family believes Harris died of complications from the chip challenge, although the teenager’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

The single, large blue tortilla chip is sold by the brand Paqui and comes in a box shaped like a coffin.

The chip-maker has been encouraging people to try the challenge since 2016 and releases a new flavour each year.



Its new line became available online last month and combines two of the world’s hottest peppers.

The “vicious” crisp “contains the super-charged Carolina Reaper Pepper and stinging Scorpion Pepper”, the brand’s website states.

The UK’s Food Standards Agency said it was aware of reports of people being sent to hospital in agony after taking part in the viral online dare.

Tina Potter, head of incidents at the agency, told the Telegraph: “It’s important that food is consumed as intended and that consumers follow any consumer advice on any food labelling or packaging.

“If there is any unsafe food on the market we’ll take rapid action to ensure it is removed and alert consumers.”

Paqui’s infamous crisps have previously been banned by numerous school districts in the US, but are available for purchase online.

While Paqui’s website states the product is only available in the US and Canada, it is also available from vendors like eBay and Amazon for delivery to the UK.

The £20 product from Paqui comes with a warning that it is “intended for adult consumption” and should be kept out of reach of children.

However, social media is rife with videos of children undertaking the challenge.

One TikTok user with the handle @*angela_b157 posted a video showing a young girl in tears after being egged on to eat the blue crisp by her family.

Later on a video shows the girl being taken to hospital, where she was reportedly treated for hours to ease her intense stomach pain.

Several US states, including California, Texas and Alabama have seen hospitalisations linked to the challenge.

5Rights, a British children’s charity founded by Baroness Kidron, has also sounded the alarm.

Leanda Barrington-Leach, director of international advocacy at the charity, warned about social media services promoting “risky content, contacts and conduct to and among children”.

She said: “This must change, by bringing forward robust legislation that requires redesigning the online world with children’s rights and needs in mind.”

The California Reaper Pepper is ranked as the world’s spiciest, with up to 2.2 million heat units (SHUs) on the Scoville Scale.

The Naga Viper Pepper is just below at 1,382,118 SHUs.

The scale measures the strength of various peppers relative to capsaicin, the major active compound that gives chillies their heat.

The body’s reaction includes swelling, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, heartburn from acid reflux, and headaches.

Experts say the side effects are a result of the body considering the stimulus from capsaicin to be a real burn.

Individual cells in the mouth and digestive system might respond to the stimulus by releasing chemicals which cause additional irritation.

Paqui, a Texas-based brand owned by The Hershey Company, has previously said it takes “safety very seriously” and has “worked hard” to ensure its products are properly “labelled with allergen and safety information”.

The company added: “It is our intent that consumers take on this challenge with a full understanding of what it is and if it is appropriate for them.”

Paqui advises anyone who has difficulty breathing, faints or has extended nausea to seek medical assistance.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-ne...achusetts-boy/

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by phisherman

I haven't had this particular version of the Paqui chip but I've eaten them several times and they are very hot. Disclaimer though, I really, really enjoy mega hot food. Huge endorphin rush.

To extend what i said above, I've seen a few posts saying he ate ****ing SIXTEEN of the whole chips. The packs come as singles, one chip at a time. Anyone that would try to eat sixteen of them....Darwin award candidate.

At $20 each?

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by notorious

They should all follow suit.

AGREED!!!

[displacedinMN]

covid death

Tik tok-culling the herd


Pre-frontal cortex strikes again

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

At $20 each?

They're only a few bucks if you're able to find them in store. eBay prices on this kind of stuff is insane.

[Spott]

Originally Posted by Bump

I wouldn't think you'd be likely to die from eating something that spicy. But it's not nearly as darwin award worthy as the other tik tok challenge recently that got a bunch of people killed. It was the "jump off of a boat at 70+ mph and break your neck and die challenge"

Natural selection.

[scho63]

I realized that young people today were much dumber than I even realized when they started eating Tide Pods.

[phisherman]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

At $20 each?

They had them at HyVee yesterday here in Lee's Summit for maybe $3-4?

I still can't imagine why anyone would want to eat more than one. They taste like complete shit, really just burning.

[Titty Meat]

My asshole feels like this for some reason after a night of black out drinking

[George Liquor]

Originally Posted by phisherman

I haven't had this particular version of the Paqui chip but I've eaten them several times and they are very hot. Disclaimer though, I really, really enjoy mega hot food. Huge endorphin rush.

To extend what i said above, I've seen a few posts saying he ate ****ing SIXTEEN of the whole chips. The packs come as singles, one chip at a time. Anyone that would try to eat sixteen of them....Darwin award candidate.

I used to love eating stuff like this but last time i had a spicy food challenge type meal i had awful stomach cramps all day the next day.

I've had half a paqui chip before and they're awful. Bad tasting tortilla chip covered in flaming hot saw dust.

[AdolfOliverBush]

If I ate something that spicy, I'd be fine but anyone within 20 yards of my anus would be vaporized.

[ThaVirus]

This kid dies after eating 16 spicy chips and there was that lady who died a couple weeks back after drinking a few bottles of water in a 20 minute timeframe.

Weird.

[stanleychief]

I find the knee-jerk reaction by parents calling for a ban on them quite silly. How many people have consumed them and not died from it? No autopsy results yet, so we don't know the true cause of death. Peanut allergies are a far more serious concern and yet they are not banned (or at least recommended not to be).

[crispystl]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Sometimes I wonder who would buy a product just to torture themselves, and then I remember that some people are Raiders season ticket holders.

I was about to say...Did you see the number of Casshole jerseys at Arrowhead back in the day!!?

[El Lobo Gordo]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This kid dies after eating 16 spicy chips and there was that lady who died a couple weeks back after drinking a few bottles of water in a 20 minute timeframe.

Weird.

There are 8 billion people on earth. Some teenager somewhere is bound to die right after eating some chips.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by El Lobo Gordo

There are 8 billion people on earth. Some teenager somewhere is bound to die right after eating some chips.

Sure, but these are new ways to die.

I had never heard of anyone dying from drinking too much water before. I haven’t done a ton of research, but I believe it was determined that drinking too much water is what killed that woman. It wasn’t happenstance.

This case is a bit different as we’ve yet to confirm, but I do wonder what ingredient in these chips could have caused this kid’s death (if it is determined that the chips were the cause of death).