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 love spicy foods but the super hot peppers are just different. Even a small amount in food where it doesn’t taste spicy will wreck my gi tract for at least 24 hours. Shit ain’t natural
They aren’t meant for people who enjoy flavor. They’re meant for dudebros who are cripplingly insecure in their masculinity and feel a constant need to prove themselves, even though no one gives a shit. The same people who buy dude wipes and giant pickups.
Or they’re just people like me who like to hurt themselves once in a while with of friends, and commiserate at our poor choices. I don’t have a single friend who’s a “dudebro”, and I don’t drive a truck. Shove your stupid prejudices in your asshole along with a Carolina Reaper.
