Popular Product Pulled From Shelves After Social Media Challenge Linked to Teen’s Death

A package of the Paqui OneChipChallenge spicy tortilla chip is seen in Boston on Sept. 7, 2023. Steve LeBlanc/AP Photo

The company behind the “One Chip Challenge” product confirmed it is removing its product from stores after a teenager in Massachusetts reportedly died after partaking in the social media trend.

Paqui LLC, which makes the product, said it is now “actively working with retailers to remove the product from shelves,” according to a news release issued late last week.

“The Paqui One Chip Challenge is intended for adults only, with clear and prominent labeling highlighting the chip is not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods or who has food allergies, is pregnant or has underlying health conditions,” the Austin, Texas-based company said in a statement. Further, the website said that it has seen a surge of “teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings.”

The product calls for people to eat the eponymously named chip, which is incredibly spicy, to see how long they can go without drinking or eating to relieve the burning sensation.

“How long can you last before you spiral out,” the company says of the One Chip Challenge product, which is packaged in a coffin-shaped box with a skull image. The package contains a single chip.

The product prompted an article from the National Poison Control Center, which responded to the One Chip Challenge.

It noted the product has capsaicin, found in spicy peppers. It normally causes mouth and throat pain but “can also result in more serious health problems including trouble breathing, esophageal damage, and heart problems,” said the Poison Control website.

“The spicy peppers included in the One Chip Challenge vary each year,” the site adds. “In 2023, the chip contains Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper peppers. Previous years’ versions have included Sichuan and Scorpion peppers in addition to the Carolina Reaper pepper.”

Carolina Reaper peppers are considered the hottest pepper in the world, according to Guinness World Records.

In early September, a 14-year-old boy from Worcester, Massachusetts, died after eating a Paqui chip, according to his family. They claimed that Harris Wolobah, the teen, suffered complications after eating the product, although an autopsy result is still pending.

Harris’ cause of death has not yet been confirmed, local media reported. His mother, Lois, told outlets that she was called to the school by a nurse who told her that the teen was given the chip, leaving him with a stomachache.

The boy felt better by the time he went home, but later, he passed out, according to his mother. He was then taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead, she said.

“Harris was a light that lit up the room with his presence and subtle charm,” says a GoFundMe for his funeral expenses. “He was an intelligent, quirky, and incredibly talented young man who loved video games and playing basketball.”