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 they should follow suit with some of the other extremely spicey foods. A retailer that I used to go to made you sign a waver and required that you prove that you were at least a certain age to buy it. Part of getting the waiver to sign was being told what it can do.
I didn’t buy the hot sauce myself, but the staff explained that it could legitimately burn your skin if you left it on for too long. I wish I remember what the sauce was called.
I was shocked at the time that you had to sign a waver to buy hot sauce. It was a weird concept to me. Incidents like this must be why. It makes sense, now that I think about it.