Boy Dies After Attempting World’s Spiciest Chip Challenge

Pauqi, the company that makes the world’s spiciest chip, has begun to pull products from shelves after a 14 year old boy in Massachusetts died, allegedly from consuming the chip.

The world’s spiciest chip challenge has been circulating since the release of the first chip in 2016, encouraging participants to eat a chip flavored with different kinds of peppers as the recipe gets spicier and more dangerous every year. This year’s recipie includes both the Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper peppers, both of which are record breakers on the scoville scale.

Paqui advertises the chip with the hashtag “one chip challenge” on X (formerly known as twitter) Instagram and Tiktok. Some videos with that hashtag get millions of views, encouraging people to continue the challenge.

Tiktok has landed in hot water before for allowing illegal or potentially dangerous challenges to trend on their site. None of the platforms involved in the trend have banned spicy challenge content.

Although Paqui’s website contains a warning saying that the chip is “intended for adults only,” buying the chip doesn’t require ID.

This isn’t the only incident that the chip played a role in. According to the Washington Post, in September of 2022, three students in California went to the emergency room after attempting the challenge.

Spicy food is known to cause inflammation and discomfort to some, especially those with preexisting stomach issues, and there have been cases of severe reactions to capsaicin, the compound that causes the feeling of burning on our tongues.

Interestingly, spicy foods may have been originally domesticated for medical use, and the BBC says that chillies may lengthen life expectancy when eaten a few times a week.

This challenge, however, doesn’t seem to be a great way to do that, so thrill seekers and heat chasers may want to scroll for their own safety.