'One Chip Challenge' sent Dublin students home with 'adverse reactions'

The young farmer Aleksandar Tanic shows the hottest pepper in Serbia on December 3, 2019 that he produces in the southern Serbian town of Niska Banja. – December snow flurries in Serbia haven’t stopped Aleksandar Tanic from cultivating his red-hot crop: the crinkly chili peppers that are considered the spiciest on the planet. At the base of a mountain in southern Serbia, Tanic plucks a handful of red, yellow and orange peppers from rows of leafy vines inside a greenhouse whose roof is blanketed in a layer of snow. Among them is the chubby and gnarled Carolina Reaper, considered to be the hottest pepper in the world according to the Guinness World Records. (Photo by Vladimir Zivojinovic / AFP) (Photo by VLADIMIR ZIVOJINOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)

by: Tori Gaines

Posted: Oct 9, 2022 / 12:08 PM PDT

Updated: Oct 9, 2022 / 12:13 PM PDT

DUBLIN, Calif. (KRON) — Multiple students at a Dublin middle school were sent home after participating in the “One Chip Challenge” from TikTok, according to a statement from Dublin Unified School District.

On Friday, Sept. 30, several students at the unnamed DUSD middle school were sent home “due to adverse reactions related to this product,” the DUSD said. Following DUSD’s previous protocols on potentially harmful social media trends, the administration decided to send a letter out to parents to inform them of the situation.

The “One Chip Challenge” is a TikTok trend where someone eats the Paqui: One Chip Challenge chip to see if they can handle the burn. However, labels on the product warn that it’s not for everyone, and even read, “Do not eat if you are sensitive to spicy foods.” The warning label also says to keep the product away from children.

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The chip is made with two of the spiciest peppers in the world: the Carolina Reaper Pepper and the Scorpion Pepper. Each of these peppers can top out at Scoville levels over 2,000,000. According to the Amazon page selling the chip, “this straight-from-hell chip now turns your tongue blue as a badge of honor to prove you completed the challenge!”

DUSD stated that caution is justified when considering the risks listed on the warning label alone. “We will keep our parents informed as we learn about potentially harmful social media trends and appreciate the partnership with our families,” DUSD said in a statement to KRON4.