Calls for viral ‘One Chip Challenge’ to be banned after teenager’s death

Cause of Harris Wolobah’s death remains to be established as autopsy report is pending

Harris Wolobah’s family grieves his loss (Screengrab/CBS Boston)

A Massachusetts family is calling for a ban on the viral “One Chip Challenge” after a teen died unexpectedly, shortly after eating a particularly spicy tortilla chip.

Harris Wolobah died at the Worcester Public School district on 1 September where he was a sophomore, said school officials.

Harris’s family claimed he died after he ate a chip as part of a “One Chip Challenge”, even though the cause of his death remained to be established as the autopsy report is pending.

The social media dare involves eating a very spicy chip and waiting for as long as possible before drinking water or taking something for relief.

Chips manufacturer Paqui advertises the challenge on its website as the “2023 Paqui One Chip Challenge”. A similar branding can be seen on the wrapper of the particular chip that Harris’s family said he ate as well.

Paqui packages the single chip in a coffin-shaped wrapper and warns that it should be kept out of children’s reach.

It also has a warning label advising those facing breathing difficulty or extended nausea to seek immediate medical assistance, as per its website. The warning also says those “allergic to peppers, night shades or capsaicin” and those pregnant or with medical conditions should not eat the chip.

“I pray to god that no parents will go through what I am going through,” Harris’s mother Louis Wolobah told CBS in tears. “I don’t want to see anybody hurting the way I’m hurting. I miss my son so much.”

Ms Wolobah said she went to pick up her son on Friday after receiving a call from the school informing her that Harris had fainted after eating a chip shared by a fellow student, leaving him with a stomach ache.

“When I went there, he was lying down and I said, ‘what was the chip you ate?’ And this is what he showed me,” said Ms Wolobah, and referred to an image of the “One Chip Challenge”.

Though he felt better at home, he passed out just before he was about to leave for a basketball tryout at around 4.30pm, reported NBC Boston. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

While the company has not issued a statement on the matter, a representative for Paqui told Today last year that they take “safety very seriously and have worked hard to ensure our products are properly and clearly labeled with allergen and safety information”.

“It is our intent that consumers take on this challenge with a full understanding of what it is and if it is appropriate for them,” the company said at the time.

Grieving his loss, Worcester Public Schools superintendent Rachel Monárrez called him a “rising star”.

“It is with a heavy heart I share that we lost a rising star, Harris Wolobah, who was a sophomore scholar at Doherty Memorial High School. As a mother and educator, I cannot imagine how hard this is on his family, friends and teachers,” Ms Monarrez said in her statement Sunday.

“My heart goes out to all who knew and loved him.”

The school is also offering grief counselling to students.

Meanwhile, relatives of the Wolobah family created a GoFundMe page to help them “raise enough funds to alleviate the burden of funeral expenses for his parents and siblings”.

“The pain our family is experiencing is unimaginable. Harris was a light that lit up the room with his presence and subtle charm. He was an intelligent, quirky and incredibly talented young man who loved video games and playing basketball,” it read. The GoFundMe requested help to reach its goal of $30,000.