What is the ‘One Chip Challenge’, what are the peppers used and why is it so dangerous?
The mother of a teenager says her son died after doing Paqui ‘One Chip Challenge’, eating a spicy tortilla chip dusted with two of the hottest peppers.
Since 2016, the Paqui ‘One Chip Challenge’ has been promoted by Amplify Snack Brands which involves eating one spicy tortilla chip. The catch, it is dusted with two of the hottest known peppers in the world, the 2023 version uses the Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper.
On Thursday. the company, owned by Hershey, said that it was stopping online sales and pulling its product from shelves after the death of a teenage boy. Harris Wolobah, 14, from Worcester, Massachusetts went to the nurse’s office at his school after he ate one of the extremely spicy chips complaining of stomach pains.
His mother took him home where his passed out again, then rushed him to the emergency room where he died, just hours within falling sick. According to the family Harris had no preexisting medical conditions and was a healthy basketball player with no allergies. The results of an autopsy are pending to reveal the cause of death.
What is the ‘One Chip Challenge’, what are the peppers used and why is it so dangerous?
The ‘One Chip Challenge’ consisted of eating one chip and enduring the burning pain for as long as possible. A single chip was packaged in a box shaped like a coffin, and the label dared those who tried to post videos on social media of their tongues, the chips contain a dye to turn the tongue blue to avoid cheating, and their reactions to the incredibly hot pepper spice before they had to eat or drink something to stop the burning sensation.
The two peppers used in the 2023 challenge are the Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper. Respectively, they have been measured to have a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of around 1.6 million and 1.4 million according to the Guinness World Records, making them the two hottest peppers in the world. Carolina Reapers, however, has registered as high as 2.2 million.
For comparison, jalapeño peppers are between 2,500 to 8,000 SHU. Pepper spray used by law enforcement registers between 500,000 and 2 million, but there are some listed as high as 5.3 million.
What causes peppers to be spicy?
The spiciness is produced by capsaicin, found in the white fibrous portion of peppers that the seeds are attached to. Capsaicin is used for medical purposes in a topical form on the skin to relive pain or soothe burning as well as it is being studied to fight prostrate cancer. When consumed it is reported to “have benefits in increasing metabolism by burning fats, relieving topical pain, and reducing insulin spikes in diabetes” according to US Pharmacist.
However, “if ingested in large amounts by adults or small amounts by children, can produce nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and burning diarrhea. Eye exposure produces intense tearing, pain, conjunctivitis, and blepharospasm.”