“Spice Challenges” have been on the internet for many years but their effects have increased with the popularization of the app TikTok. Spice challenges are challenges where people ingest extremely spicy foods in order to see who can tolerate it the best. While this may be seen as just a fun activity or entertainment, these spice challenges can be very harmful for many reasons.
An example of a really popular challenge that has had many negative effects is the one chip challenge. The challenge was that you had to eat one really spicy Paqui Carolina Reaper Chip with no water or beverages. The packaging of the Paqui Chip even had “One Chip Challenge” on it showing how they were buying into the challenge through their marketing. However, a horrible incident happened because of the challenge. In 2022, a 10th grader from Massachusetts had ingested the chip for the challenge and later passed away due to a congenital heart defect after having so much chili pepper extract in his system. Most people who bought the chip did it because of seeing people with it on social media sites. This included TikTok, where the challenge was most popular. The packaging of the Paqui chip stated that it was for “adult consumption only”, but these kids were being influenced due to social media to still try it for themselves. Death can unfortunately be one of the negative effects of these spice challenges but these challenges can also lead to lots of sicknesses.
Another popular spicy TikTok challenge was the ghost pepper challenge, where people would have to eat a ghost pepper or any other spicy pepper without any beverages. However, there are many known detrimental health effects from ingesting highly spicy foods. Gastric issues like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness can all occur and become serious enough to send people to the hospital. It can also cause respiratory issues like difficulty breathing, and throat irritation. All these things should discourage people from participating in these challenges but they still continue due to social media pressure from places like TikTok. Children are even more susceptible to this pressure because of their young age. We should all be aware of the dangers of these TikTok spice challenges so we can protect our health and the health of others.
