A snack company is pulling an “extremely hot tortilla chip” off shelves less than a week after a 14-year-old ate one and died hours later.
On its website, Paqui said Thursday that the “One Chip Challenge” product, a single tortilla chip packaged in a coffin-shaped box and encrusted with seasoning from some of the spiciest chile peppers in the world, is intended for adults only. But the company said it has seen a spike in teens eating the chips, which come with labels warning that they are not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods, according to the statement from Paqui, which is owned by Austin-based Amplify Snack Brands.
“We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings,” the statement continues. “As a result, while the product continues to adhere to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we are actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves.”
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Paqui’s decision to remove the chips from store shelves comes less than a week after a 14-year-old boy in Worcester, Mass., ate one at school and died at home hours later.
Lois Wolobah told WBZ that the nurse at her son’s school called her Friday to tell her that her son, Harris, had fainted after eating a tortilla chip. When Wolobah got to the high school, her son showed her an image on his phone of the Paqui chip that made him sick.
A few hours later, Harris passed out at home, Lois and her husband, Amos, told WBZ. He was taken to an emergency room, where he died.
Wolobah and her husband are blaming the chip for their son’s death and pushing for the product to be banned, they told the TV station. The state medical examiner is investigating the boy’s death and, while his autopsy has been completed, the office does not expect to determine a cause of death for weeks, Tim McGuirk, spokesperson for the state executive office of public safety and security, told The Washington Post in an email.
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In a statement, a spokeswoman with the Hershey Company, which owns Amplify, said that company officials are “deeply saddened by the news report and express our condolences to the family.”
On Wednesday, Paqui’s website for the “One Chip Challenge” still advertised the product with a label warning people to keep the chip away from children, not to eat it if they’re sensitive to spicy foods, to wash their hands after touching the chip, and to seek medical attention if they faint, feel nauseous or have trouble breathing.
But earlier Wednesday, the company removed language challenging people to hold off as long as possible after consuming the chip before eating or drinking anything to relieve the burning. The page had asked “How long can you last before you spiral out?” and provided a ranking system ranging from one minute for those who are “harmless” up to an hour, which was reserved for an “apex predator.”
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Later on Wednesday, options to buy the chip online and locate stores that sold them had disappeared.
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