Teen dies from "One Chip Challenge"

Post Reply New Topic

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/one-chip-challenge-pulled-shelves-teen-death-rcna103906

I saw them at my local 7/11. I almost got one, good thing I didn't.

"The spiciness of chili peppers is measured on the Scoville scale, which calculates the heat units in a given pepper. Carolina Reapers score around 1.7 million Scoville heat units and Naga Viper peppers around 1.4 million. A jalapeño pepper, by contrast, rates up to 8,500 Scoville heat units."

These products seem insanely spicy!

I wouldn't have them given.

Heard about that on the radio yesterday. Sad, buuut, clearly they didn't read the packaging and follow instructions.

High school classmate of mine attempted the one chip challenge on a video he posted to Facebook a few weeks ago - couldn't complete it. I haven't tried it but I've definitely eaten spicy things. I think I Could do it, and if it were my goal I'd eat it quickly so my mouth didn't heat up and make me not want to finish it. But it's not my goal.

My younger brother loves to challenge his taste with spicy. I should tell him about this so he's extra cautious.

Autopsy hasn’t been done yet , so it may not have been the chip.

Possibly not.. buuuut, I bet it was the Main contributing factor.

Even adults have been hospitalized from eating hot peppers. I recall reading about some guy that was diagnosed with "thunderclap headaches," caused by hot peppers restricting blood flow in his brain.

Doesn't seem out of the question to me that a 14 year old Could suffer a bad enough vascular or respiratory event to die - especially if he had some unknown underlying condition that it exacerbated. Young humans simply can't handle the same level of toxins that fully grown humans can.

/\Capsicum isn’t a toxin.
It’s possible he had an allergic reaction.
Me, I eat pickled Serrano peppers and other hot foods but have never tried a Naga pepper.Maybe I’ll grow some next year and try.The hottest pepper I have ever eaten was a very small innocent looking Thai pepper, it burned like gas lol.

I was about to post that claim until I found out it wasn't true.



https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10. ... .902960310

So, it most certainly is a toxin, although it's toxic properties don't appear to be relevant to this case.

Potato, PotAto.

How much capsaicin is toxic?
"There are studies that have tested animal toxicity, and from there, there are estimates as to how much capsaicin would cause toxicity and lethal side effects in humans. It is estimated to be around 12 to 13 grams for a 150-pound person."

Is capsaicin considered a toxin?
Capsaicin Technical Fact Sheet
Capsaicin is used as an insecticide in addition to its use as a repellent. Capsaicin is toxic to some bacteria and has been evaluated for use as a marine antifoulant. Signal words for products containing capsaicin may range from Caution to Danger.

In large doses, it acts as an irritant poison and causes difficulty in swallowing, pain in the stomach and inflammation of the oesophagus and stomach. Applied to the skin and the mucosa it causes irritation. Powder thrown in the eyes causes severe irritation leading to lacrimation, burning pain and redness.



Too much causes undesirable effects, especially in smaller beings. I'm currently 218.5lbs and could almost certainly process that chip without dying. That kid was probably closer to 100lbs. Can't handle that much pepper spray seasoning.

I always used it for medicine.No idea of it being a toxin. For obvious reasons I avoid the eyes or private parts after handling.
I suppose he had no tolerance , where a child from Thailand could wolf that chip down.
There is another possible cause of death, people have experienced esophagus tears from badly chewed chips .He could have gulped it down and gotten punctured.Internal bleeding ?

I was about to say maybe it's the difference between toxiN and toxiC as almost anything we ingest has a toxiC dose, and many things that are otherwise fine have a lethal dose. But this google hit is much more direct in saying it's a toxiN:

Capsaicin

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Capsaicin
It is a chemical irritant and neurotoxin for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact.


But just because things are toxins, technically, doesn't automatically mean they're bad for us in any dose. If that were true most medicines would be off limits.

I'd really like to try these chips.

*this chip.

Don’t eat 2. Might die.

What if you chase it with a cold beer?
You can’t have just one.If it’s going to kill you anyway, go whole hog.
Maybe with ranch dip?
I bet he had a empty stomach and it burned a hole.

Mmm, I'm in flavour country.

Both of them?

It's a big country.

Google reviews mention vomiting.
I have decided to pass on the experience.I can only imagine something that hot coming back up.The reburn!!