Teen Dies After Doing Viral Paqui 'One Chip Challenge,' Leading To 'Voluntary Product Retrieval'
Last Friday, a 14-year-old boy in Massachusetts died suddenly after doing the viral Paqui "One Chip Challenge." In a GoFundMe, his family wrote that they suspect he died from "complications due to the one chip challenge (autopsy pending)." The boy purportedly had no known allergies or risk factors.
The One Chip Challenge is a yearly promotion run by Paqui in which the company sells a single corn chip coated with dust from some of the world's spiciest peppers in a coffin-shaped package. The hot chip sells for around $10 at stores around the country.
Paqui has put out a new One Chip Challenge every year since the promotion started in 2016. Last year's chip, which turned tongues blue, was also cited as a possible safety concern after some teenagers were hospitalized. Reportedly, middle and high schools around the United States also took action because kids were missing class after eating the chips during lunch.
This year's chip features Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers, the former of which is considered by many as "the world's hottest pepper" measuring over 2 million Scoville heat units.
Since its introduction, the viral internet challenge has attracted many streamers and influencers, including iShowSpeed and Kai Cenat, along with thousands of everyday users of platforms like TikTok.
Online, rumors and disinformation circulated that the Massachusetts teen who died had eaten 16 chips. These unsubstantiated claims were a subject of argument and discussion in the replies to tweets announcing the news.
Earlier this morning, Paqui announced a voluntary product retrieval of the One Chip Challenge product, writing that "… out of an abundance of caution, we are actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves."
The company, however, affirmed that it believes the One Chip Challenge does not break any food safety laws, so long as it is eaten in a way that follows the warnings on its packaging.
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LilaBirby
why do people even randomly do this?
PhasmaFelis
You ever know a kid who would do anything if you dared him to?
Sometimes, that kid is so dumb that he'll do anything a supermarket ad dares him to.
Uatu
Where is the do your homework ad?
jruge
Kids seeking validation anywhere they can, including in potentially lethal "challenges"
Same old shit, really.
PhasmaFelis
Is it actually possible for someone to die of too much capsaicin? I'm not saying I don't believe it, I'm just surprised. Would this be, what, a severe allergic reaction? Weak heart giving out from the flood of pain-induced adrenalin?
SuperMafia
I think it is possible to eat too much, though I don't think there's much in the way of documentations of capsaicin itself inducing death. Usually, it'd be because your gastrointestinal lining would be damaged by the compound, which in turn could eventually cause death. That's usually why you need to be careful when consuming high scoville items, like ghost peppers and even habaneros, since a weaker GI tract could feel more pain with these items.
The TL;DR of it is possibly, but there isn't documentation of a pure capsaicin overdose. And at the end, my comment only comes from googling about capsaicin poisoning. I would assume it'd be similar to how theobromine is toxic, in that having too much can induce unpleasant effects that can, ultimately, kill you.
Revic
It does produce an inflammation response, which I guess could result in death the same way the same response in allergies can if it were severe enough, but I'm not sure how plausible that is. I think it'd be likelier to happen by some sort of trigger of an unrelated underlying health problem. A quick Google suggests a few other people have died after (not necessarily directly because of) eating super-spicy foods, but I'm not sure how reliable those accounts are.
smolbirb
yeah I was super skeptical when the news first broke out and there was very little info on how exactly the chip caused his death. it could be related if the kid had some sort of underlying health condition that the kid was perhaps unaware of, but details are scarce in the story so far. As far as the chip itself, it does have the proper product warnings about it potentially being harmful under certain circumstances, especially for children, so it's not like they did anything wrong.