US teen dies after eating spicy chips in coffin-shaped box for social media challenge
A 10th grader from Massachusetts died last year after he ate a spicy chip during a challenge for social media.
According to a report from The Associated Press, Harris Wolobah from the city of Worcester, died on September 1, 2023, from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect.
The chip, sold for US$10 and packaged in a coffin-shaped box, is manufactured by Paqui, a Texas-based subsidiary of the Hershey Company.
The product was pulled from store shelves shortly after the teen’s death.
Autopsy reports obtained The Associated Press from the Chief Office of the Medical Examiner detailed that Harris died of cardiopulmonary arrest “in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration”.
Capsaicin gives chile peppers their heat and large doses of capsaicin can reportedly increase how the heart squeezes, putting extra pressure on the artery.
The autopsy said Wolobah had cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) and a congenital defect described as “myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery”, The Associated Press reported.
The cause of Harris’ death was determined on February 27, 2024.