The Paqui One Chip Challenge has been pulled from stores after the recent death of Haris Wolobah, a 14-year-old boy.
The One Chip challenge was first created in 2016 by the company Paqui. The company would put large amounts of spices on the chip in order to make it extremely spicy. Each year the company would come out with a new chip every year. Becoming more and more hot every year. The chip started to blow up on social media as celebrities like Matt Stonie and Tony Hawk would try the challenge. The whole point of the challenge was to go as long as you could without drinking water or milk.
When you buy the chip, the box explains the stages of the challenge. First, your mouth starts to burn. Second, your eyes start to tear up and you have trouble seeing. Lastly, the chip goes to your stomach and you have trouble moving. The pain from the spice lasts about 30 minutes and the pain in your stomach lasts about 45. Lots of people say they felt instant regret after their experience.
Wolobah ate the chip and then went to school. When he got there, his stomach started to ache. He went to the nurse and was then sent home. After arriving home, he passed out and was not able to be revived. However, after an autopsy, they were not able to find the cause of death. While the box of the chips says that the chip is only for adults, multiple children have bought the chip with no request for ID from the cashier.
In Florida, six elementary school students were sent to the nurse after an encounter with the One Chip Challenge. Five of them split the chip and one of them just touched it and rubbed their eyes. All six kids were sent home and the girl who brought the chip was suspended for a week. The child claimed that she bought the chip from Walgreens with no problem. The child’s father was infuriated because this whole situation could have been avoided if the cashier had never sold the chip to the child. Schools around the country are now starting to ban the chip as it disrupts class.
These stories have scared the public away from the challenge and now the company is at risk as they are currently not selling any products.
