Posted on 09/13/2023 5:43:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A psychiatrist weighs in on how hazardous social media challenges can be
Welcome to Culture Clinic, MedPage Today's collaboration with Northwell Health to offer a healthcare professional's take on the latest viral medical topics.
A Massachusetts teen's death after reportedly consuming a single spicy tortilla chip at the center of a social media challenge is raising alarm.
Though the cause of the 14-year-old's death was not immediately clear, his mother told the New York Timesopens in a new tab or window that one of the last things her son ate was a Paqui brand chip from a coffin-shaped container with a label that read "One Chip Challenge" and "Inside: One Extremely Hot Chip."
Indeed, the website for Paqui has touted the hashtag #OneChipChallenge. However, the company has now pulled the product as officials investigateopens in a new tab or window the boy's death. A notice posted on Paqui's siteopens in a new tab or window reads that the chips have "clear and prominent labeling" warning that the chips are for adults only and not for children, but that there's been "an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings."
"As a result, while the product continues to adhere to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we are actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves," the company wrote.
MedPage Today spoke with child and adolescent psychiatrist Scott Krakower, DO, of Northwell Health in Glen Oaks, New York, regarding just how hazardous extreme challenges making the rounds on social media can be.
"We see these things a lot," Krakower told MedPage Today. "Something will happen, and it quickly spreads."
It's "awful" to see stories like this, he said.
As for the rise of the "One Chip Challenge" on social media, Krakower said it's no surprise that young people have come across it, and engaged in it.
Social media content is often filtered by what users have previously interacted with, he noted. So, if a child or adolescent has viewed one extreme challenge online, they're likely to see more.
Further troubling is that the brain's prefrontal cortex is still developing in young people, making it more likely for them to act on impulse, noted Krakower. Accordingly, if a social media challenge appears "sensational" and "fun," kids and teens may be quick to jump on it, he said.
"You don't always think a chip can be dangerous," but an extremely spicy food item can damage an individual's digestive tract, or even cause someone to choke, Krakower said.
Capsaicin is the compound in chili peppers responsible for burning and irritation, and a Cleveland Clinic post on the potential risks of spicy foodsopens in a new tab or window from earlier this year notes that "your body may see capsaicin as a toxin and try to get rid of it." Symptoms may include abdominal pain, burning diarrhea, chest pain, headaches, and violent vomiting. Damage or pain can become so severe that individuals require emergency care.
The chip involved in the "One Chip Challenge" contains the Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers, according to Paqui's website, and a warning label there states the following:
Keep out of reach of children. Intended for adult consumption. Do not eat if you are sensitive to spicy foods, allergic to peppers, night shades or capsaicin, or are pregnant or have any medical conditions. After touching the chip, wash your hands with soap and do not touch your eyes or other sensitive areas. Seek medical assistance should you experience difficultly breathing, fainting or extended nausea.
However, reports indicate that young people have been partaking in the challenge nonetheless.
"I see kids, they want to be a TikTok star," they want to be present and sensational and gain followers and likes, Krakower said.
His work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist often involves addressing concerns regarding addiction to social media. However, said Krakower, "a lot of kids will also tell you they feel [it] has been really positive for them." For instance, they may point to friend groups they never would have had without social media.
"It's a balance between how do we continue to connect with people socially through the internet," he said, while also making sure kids take breaks from social media and stay socially connected in school.
As for the "One Chip Challenge" and others like it, Krakower remains troubled.
All of the factors at play can add up to potentially life-threatening challenges, he said, with an ante that "keeps going up and up, and there's no way to stop."
author['full_name'] Jennifer Henderson joined MedPage Today as an enterprise and investigative writer in Jan. 2021. She has covered the healthcare industry in NYC, life sciences and the business of law, among other areas.
Can’t blame Tide pods for this one.
That warning label is also on the packaging itself.
The kid was stupid.
Can you imagine the boardroom:
“Guys I got a great idea. Let’s make a chip that so hot, that people puke their guts out, and it sets their digestive tract on fire.”
“BRILLIANT! Let’s do it!”
Since they took it off the shelves, you can go online and buy it, and it’s like $40 per package.
Probably Covid.
Or the clot shot.
:)
It does not raise alarm to me.
one person has died, and we don’t even know why. Company has been around since 2008 and sold lots of chips. For all we know the kid ate something else too, or maybe he had a case of myocarditis that was undiagnosed, and the chip was coincidental. If these chips were deadly we likely would have known before now.
According to wikipedia:
Paqui is an American brand of tortilla chips made by Amplify Snack Brands, Inc, a subsidiary of The Hershey Company. Its Carolina Reaper chips, sold individually wrapped, was known for being one of the spiciest flavors sold.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Doug Lyon, a veteran of the advertising industry, and Alissa Bassana founded Paqui in Austin in 2008.[10] SkinnyPop acquired Paqui in 2015, after which Lyon became the parent company’s vice president of creative and innovation.[11] After SkinnyPop later reincorporated as Amplify Snack Brands, The Hershey Company acquired Amplify in 2017.[12]
A 14 year old is not a “child” in the physical sense. His body is likely more resilient than a older adult.
What the hell was in that?
How about the Volcano Jump Challenge, or the Fistful of Fentanyl Challenge?
How about a clogged heart due to “vax” causing leading to a heart attack unders stress from the chip?
Still looking for more Blair’s Death Rain Habanero potato chips. A small bag of those will light you up with a sweet touch at the end. Out of stock for years.
I was on board until I saw the cost of one chip. Nope.
Sprinkle that stuff all around as an obesity treatment.
I can handle the hotness in the mouth but it’s in the intestines that is the reason I would never do it. You’ll suffer for hours as opposed to a few minutes.
Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers
Pure Capsacin has a scoville level of 16,000,000.
Below from
The Carolina Reaper is the current official hottest pepper in the world. How hot? With a heat range from 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scoville heat units, the Reaper is hotter than many defensive pepper sprays
Naga Viper - It sounds like a crazy pepper joke, but this extreme chili – a wicked offspring of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Naga Morich, and ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) – sits among the hottest of the hottest (900,000 to 1,382,118 Scoville heat units)
To be sure, with certain foods there is ample irritation at the other end to spoil what otherwise would be pleasant. “When will I learn . . . ?”
My chip will probably remain unopened. Discontinuation just makes it more valuable.
No, the kid was a kid.
The company was stupid to make such a product, and then to sell it in a little coffin.
“When you say it out loud beforehand, that makes it premeditated”.
One would love to be the mom’s attorney in the wrongful death suit. They’ve already admitted culpability, what a nice thing of them to do.
Well, to be fair, their brains aren’t fully developed yet. Don’t think I’m defending the teen, because I’m not.
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