Paqui, the maker of extremely spicy tortilla chips marketed as the “One Chip Challenge,” is voluntarily pulling the product from shelves after a woman said her teenage son died of complications from consuming a single chip.
The chips were sold individually, and their seasoning included two of the hottest peppers in the world: the Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper.
Each chip was packaged in a coffin-shaped container with a skull on the front.
Lois Wolobah told NBC Boston that her 14-year-old son, Harris Wolobah, ate the chip Friday, then went to the school nurse with a stomachache. Wolobah said Harris — a sophomore at Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, Massachusetts — passed out at home that afternoon. He was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day, she said.
Until sales of the product were suspended, Paqui’s marketing dared people to participate in the challenge by eating a chip, posting pictures of their tongues on social media after the chip turned it blue and then waiting as long as possible to relieve the burn with water or other food.
The challenge has existed in some form since 2016.
I think that tens of thousands of people have done it and this is the first fatality says that it was something unique about the victim, rather than the chip.
Please see @WHYAREWEALLCAPS’ repost of the NYT article below. This is the first fatality, but not the first hospitalization of a child.
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Yeah lots of parents love to waste the ER’s time and staff with their kids petty complaints, doesn’t mean the product’s dangerous to any but a microscopic number of people.
This is hotter than that. It’s not a safe product. I have no idea why you think it is.
It’s littered with warnings, at what point is it the consumers fault?
Just because it’s the consumer’s fault doesn’t mean a hot chip that can send you to the hospital should be on store shelves lol
I don’t think the mom has any right to sue, though
Why doesn’t the mom have any right to sue? That’s kind of how the American legal system works.
Because a parent can’t sue when their kid with peanut allergies eats a bag of candy that says WARNING: CONTAINS PEANUTS and dies. There’s lots of warning labels on the chip container
This is just my opinion, I’m not a lawyer
I think the difference is that this is a fairly unknown risk, whereas allergies are known, diagnosed, and we have labeling requirements (in the US, at least) to protect people from accidentally ingesting an allergen. With an unknown ingredient like this, IMO the onus is on the company selling it to make sure it’s safe. This isn’t necessarily an allergic response that kids are having. It sounds like something else entirely.
Should alcohol be illegal for everyone because it harms children? That’s the case you are basically making.
That’s the example you want to give in support of your argument that this chip should be within reach of kids? A highly-regulated product that can only be purchased by adults?
And where did I say it should be illegal? I said it doesn’t need to be on shelves and even implied they did nothing wrong legally (the mom shouldn’t be able to sue)
What exactly are you defending here?
Literally any food can send you to the hospital. Taking it off of shelves because one person had a reaction is an overreaction.
Yes.
Ok Mormon…
When you’re dealing with a child it’s never their fault. Kids do stupid shit.
Maybe an age limit should be put in place and a warning.
I think at the very least, yes.
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I’m not saying it is or isn’t safe, but this seems completely arbitrary. Why are you so sure that over 2 million scoville units is unsafe? There are some pepper spray brands that are in the 5 million+ range.
Did you read the pasted article? That’s why. And I wouldn’t suggest anyone ingest pepper spray, so that’s a weird comparison.
Way more people have strokes after chiropractic neck adjustments and dental surgery. When are we banning those?
Are stores not allowed to decide what they want to sell?
How does that relate to my comment? We don’t have an official cause of death on this guy. We just have the mother claiming it was from the chip. The paper claiming the kid had a stroke 2 days after eating a hot chip seems very questionable.
We have lots of people who have gone to the ER after being in intense pain from eating something that causes intense pain. No evidence presented that they were actually in danger.
Chiropractors and dentists are well documented for causing strokes after neck adjustments and surgeries. There’s even a good explanation for why, in that they can both cause tears in the neck blood vessels and arteries resulting in blood clots that can very quickly get to the brain.
No actual danger?
First, he didn’t have a stroke. Second, he had issues that arose during football practice 2 days later. Give me a break.
woah be careful you’re about to dismantle the whole anti vax argument if you keep talking like that