The One Chip Challenge was an internet challenge in which participants had to eat one extremely spicy Paqui Carolina Reaper chip, and avoid eating or drinking anything afterwards. The challenge was initially marketed by Amplify Snack Brands before being sold to The Hershey Company. During the fall season from 2016 to 2023 the chip was sold in various packaging before being declared "sold out". The challenge was tried by celebrities and social media personalities, and garnered criticism for negative associated health effects.
Paqui's One Chip Challenge ended in 2023 when Harris Wolobah, a 14-year-old boy from Worcester, Massachusetts, died a few hours after he took the challenge. Paqui immediately withdrew and discontinued the chips from any further sales and indefinitely stopped publicity for the challenge. The teen's death later led to the chip being withdrawn from sale by Paqui and recalled from stores.
After an investigation into the cause of death, an autopsy report released to various news outlets in May 2024 confirmed that Harris died from eating a large quantity of chili pepper extract and had cardiomegaly, a congenital heart defect. Paqui responded by stating that the warning label on their website clearly said that the challenge was not for children, or those with health risks. [1]
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, were known for being among the spiciest flavors sold. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Doug Lyon, a veteran of the advertising industry, and Alissa Bassana founded Paqui in Austin in 2008. [9] SkinnyPop acquired Paqui in 2015, after which Lyon became the parent company's vice president of creative and innovation. [10] After SkinnyPop later reincorporated as Amplify Snack Brands, The Hershey Company acquired Amplify in 2017. [11]
The One Chip Challenge was first promoted in 2016 by Amplify Snack Brands under the name Carolina Reaper, which at the time was the world's hottest chili pepper. [3] [13] As the Reaper chips quickly sold out Amplify started a "1-in-10 chance to win the Reaper" offer in October 2017. [14] This offer also included a chance to win a year's supply of Paqui chips and a custom "reaper" neon sign for those who posted a video or photo of themselves "enjoying" the (Reaper) chip to Instagram or Twitter. [14]
After the contest ended on January 31, 2018 a "Wall of Infamy" was posted on Amplify's "Paqui" website, of those who were able to complete the contest. [15] Paqui, now owned by Hershey, repeated this contest towards the end of 2019, which ended in February 2020, with the grand prize including a "Tailgate Party" instead of a neon sign. [16]
In September 2020, the main focus became the challenge of eating a single chip as it was marketed inside of a coffin shaped box. In order to increase the heat, the Scorpion Pepper and Sichuan pepper were added with the Reaper. [17] In order to qualify for the "Wall of Infamy" participants were required to eat one chip, with video/photo proof, and avoid eating or drinking anything afterwards for up to an hour. A scale was used on Paqui's website that ranged from 5 minutes (Featherweight) to 1 hour (Heavyweight). [17] For the first time, a warning was added to Paqui's "One Chip Challenge" website, which said that children, and people who are sensitive, allergic, and pregnant should not eat the chip. [17]
The challenge returned in September 2021, and again in September 2022 with mention of the Sichuan pepper dropped. [8] [12] On Paqui's website, the challenge scale of 5 minutes to 1 hour was changed to read "Powerless" to "Invincible" and included wording such as "How long can you last before getting Owned?", and "How long can you last before you short circuit?". [18] [19] In 2022, the chips sold for the One Chip Challenge were made with food coloring that turned people's tongues bright blue, to deter cheating. [20] Before the challenge was discontinued in 2023, the challenge was updated to include the Naga Viper pepper with the Carolina Reaper. Now going with a snake theme, the challenge scale of 5 minutes to 1 hour was adjusted to include "Harmless" to "Apex Predator". [21]
As word of the challenge spread it was attempted by various people in the American media. Celebrities including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Shaquille O'Neal, Joel Embiid, Lil Yachty, and Sean Evans all tried the challenge. [22] In 2023, rapper T.I.'s son King Harris controversially offered to pay a homeless man $50 if he completed a One Chip Challenge. Since the man failed the challenge, Harris only paid him $20. [23] Non-celebrities included an anchor for KWGN-TV in Denver, Colorado, who vomited on live television after trying to eat the chip. [24]
Over time, the challenge became more controversial, as some participants required medical attention. [25] While Paqui warned that the One Chip Challenge should have been attempted by adults only, children and teens still accepted the stunt. [26] In September 2022, the challenge was banned by Huerfano School District RE-1 in Huerfano County, Colorado, as many children of their schools were accepting the challenge and becoming hospitalized. [27] [28] [29]
Other schools later followed suit, including Lodi High School in Lodi, California, and schools in Pearland Independent School District in Pearland, Texas. [22] [30] In November 2022, first responders were called to Dunwoody High School in Dunwoody, Georgia to treat a student who tried to participate in the challenge. [31] [32]
In September 2023, a 14-year-old boy from Worcester, Massachusetts named Harris Wolobah ate a Paqui chip, complained about a severe stomachache, and died within a few hours. [32] Shortly afterwards, Paqui removed promotional text reading, "How long can you last before you spiral out?" from its web page about the One Chip Challenge. The company deleted web pages that let customers buy Carolina Reaper chips online and locate stores that sold them. [33] The company asked retailers to withdraw the challenge chips from sale and offered refunds to customers who had purchased them. [34] [35]
A spokeswoman for Paqui said, "We care about all of our consumers and have made the decision to remove the product from shelves. Paqui presently has several representatives visiting retailers to retrieve the recalled product, in effort to prevent further injury through "under the tables" sales." [36] The autopsy report obtained on May 2024, listed the cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest "in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration." Harris also had an enlarged heart and a congenital heart defect, according to the report shared by Timothy McGuirk, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. [37] [38]
American chili pepper breeder Ed Currie of the "PuckerButt Pepper Company" said “there’s a lot more attention” now on capsaicin in his industry. As the creator of the Carolina Reaper he called challenges like these "stupid" and stated that “We don’t market our products to children at all.” [39] Currie went on to say that “I think, as an industry, we need to inform people of what they’re getting into,” “To me, that’s common sense.” [39] Dr. Stuart Berger who is the head of cardiology at Lurie Children’s Heart Center in Chicago said that this case may "force us to pause and look more closely at capsaicin and its effects." [39]
While a lawsuit could be filed against Hershey, an attorney from a Boston based law firm said that it likely would not succeed. He explained in his reasoning that a lack of adverse event reports filed to the FDA, and the chip being used for its intended purpose would go against it. [40] The attorney concluded by saying that "he wouldn't be surprised if Hershey opted to settle the case out of court to avoid more negative publicity while avoiding admitting any culpability." [40]
The Scoville scale is a measurement of pungency of chili peppers and other substances, recorded in Scoville heat units (SHU). It is based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component.
Capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is a chemical irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related amides (capsaicinoids) are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, likely as deterrents against certain mammals and fungi. Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, highly pungent crystalline solid.
Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli, are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add "heat" to dishes. Capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids are the substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Chili peppers exhibit a range of heat and flavors. This diversity is the reason behind the availability of different types of paprika and chili powder, each offering its own taste and heat level.
Doritos is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay.
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Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist.
Tostitos is a brand of Frito-Lay that produces different tortilla chips and a range of accompanying dips.
A dip or dip sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, falafel, and sometimes even whole sandwiches in the case of jus. Unlike other sauces, instead of applying the sauce to the food, the food is typically placed or dipped into the sauce.
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Fried plantain is a dish cooked wherever plantains grow, from West Africa to East Africa as well as Central America, the tropical region of northern South America and the Caribbean countries like Haiti to Cuba and in many parts of Southeast Asia and Oceania, where fried snacks are widely popular. In Indonesia it is called gorengan. It is called dodo in Yoruba in South West Nigeria, otherwise known as simply fried plantain in other parts of Nigeria. Kelewele is a fried spicy plantain or can be fried as a side dish for Red Red and fish stew in Ghana.
Pungency refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy is sometimes applied to foods with a lower degree of pungency that are "agreeably stimulating to the palate". Examples of piquant food include mustard and curry. The primary substances responsible for pungent taste are capsaicin, piperine and allyl isothiocyanate.
Shearer's Foods, LLC is a U.S. manufacturer and distributor of snack foods. Founded in 1974 as Shearer's Snacks, it is headquartered in Brewster, Ohio.
The Carolina Reaper chili pepper is a cultivar of the Capsicum chinense plant. Developed by American breeder Ed Currie, the pepper is red and gnarled, with a bumpy texture and small pointed tail. It was the hottest chili pepper in the world according to Guinness World Records from 2013 to 2023 before it was surpassed by Pepper X, which was also developed by Currie.
The hot pepper challenge is an Internet viral video fad, consisting of a food challenge that involves filming oneself while eating and swallowing a chili pepper that is high on the Scoville scale and known for its piquant (spicy-hot) qualities, in particular the cayenne pepper, Thai pepper, habanero, ghost pepper, and the Trinidad moruga scorpion pepper; the video is then uploaded to the Internet. Hot pepper challenges have been featured on television series, including Man v. Food.
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Takis are a Mexican brand of flavored rolled tortilla chips by Barcel, a subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo. Fashioned after the taquito, it comes in numerous flavors, the best selling of which is the chili-lime "Fuego" flavor, sold in distinctive purple bags. Besides the rolled corn chips, Takis produces other snacks with the same flavor lines, including different potato chip varieties, corn "stix", popcorn, and peanuts. It is not Halal cetified from Halal authorities but as per ingredients it is considered as Halal.
Ed Currie is an American chili pepper breeder who is the founder and president of the PuckerButt Pepper Company. He is best known for breeding the Carolina Reaper which was the hottest chili pepper in the world until, in 2023, Pepper X, also bred by Currie, took over as the hottest chili pepper, as recognized by Guinness World Records.