Worcester DA shares message for parents after teen dies of complications from social media challenge

WORCESTER, Mass. — Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early is urging parents to speak with their children after a 14-year-old high school student died suddenly from what his family described as complications from a popular social media challenge.

Harris Wolobah, of Worcester, recently passed away after taking part in the “One Chip Challenge,” which involves eating an extremely spicy chip made from some of the hottest peppers in the world, according to his family.

Wolobah visited the nurse’s office at Doherty Memorial High School on Friday. Wolobah later passed away in his home on Rustic Drive in front of Worcester police officers and paramedics.

While autopsy results are still pending, it appears Wolobah ate an extremely spicy chip made from a very hot pepper and sold by Paqui LLC.

Did ingestion of that chip lead to Wolobah’s death? That remains under investigation, but Early doesn’t want a similar situation unfolding on his watch.

In a series of posts Wednesday, Early wrote the following on X:

“While the investigation into the cause of the teenager’s death in Worcester continues, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office would like to remind parents to research and discuss with your children about the one-chip challenge.

Medical professionals have said the tortilla chip, which is made from two of the spiciest chili peppers in the world, can cause very serious and dangerous side effects.

The seasoning for the chips contains two of the hottest peppers available: Carolina Reaper Peppers, which are around 1.7 million Scoville units, and Naga Viper Peppers which are around 1.4 million Scoville units.

The Scoville scale is used to measure the hotness of a chili pepper or anything derived from chili peppers.

The company that makes the chip even states, ‘Do not eat if you are sensitive to spicy foods, allergic to peppers, nightshades, or capsaicin, or are pregnant or have any medical conditions. Keep out of reach of children. After touching the chip, wash your hands with soap, and do not touch your eyes or other sensitive areas. Seek medical assistance should you experience difficulty breathing, fainting, or extended nausea.’

We urge parents to discuss this with their children and advise them not to partake in this activity. The company warnings state the chips are intended for adult consumption. Other states across the country have seen hospitalizations due to the chip challenge, including teens.”

The “one chip” in question is packaged in a box shaped like a coffin.

One local toxicologist, Dr. Peter Chai, an Emergency Services physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said it’s possible to get a toxic dose of the ingredient that gives hot peppers their heat: capsaicin.

The issue is ingesting enough of the capsaicin to achieve a lethal level. And while the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains -- humans would still have to eat an unreasonable amount of peppers to get poisoned.

Chai said it doesn’t sound like an allergic reaction to capsaicin, as that would have happened more quickly. But he’s not discounting a possible poisoning.

Chai said one challenge facing the medical examiner in determining cause of death is getting an accurate blood level of capsaicin -- as it disappears rather quickly.

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