Boy (14) dies after eating too spicy chips for online challenge

14-year-old basketball player Harris Wolobah from Massachusetts has died after eating extremely spicy chips.

He suffered from a mild heart defect, but died from eating too spicy chips during the One Chip Challenge, an initiative of tortilla chip maker Paqui. That is now evident from the results of his autopsy, Associated Press reports.

The American teenager participated in the challenge last year. The challange consists of eating a single tortilla chip, sold for 18  dollar in a box shaped like a coffin. By the way, the package also includes a protective glove to pick up the chip with. This challenge became his death. The chip's packaging does state that the product is not intended for children or people sensitive to spicy foods or underlying health problems.

The participants of the challenge were asked to film their reaction to the chip and post it online.

The ultra-hot chip contains a hefty dose of a combination of four types of chili peppers: Carolina reaper, Trinidad moruga scorpion, habanero and red jalapeno. About 20 percent of the chip consists of that chili mix.

The 14-year-old Harris ate such an exceptional chip at school and later went home feeling nauseous. Once home, he became unconscious. A few hours later, he was found dead in his bedroom. He died of cardiac arrest "in the context of recent ingestion of foods with a high concentration of capsaicin", the doctor reported in the autopsy, according to AP.

The manufacturer of the chips may face a lawsuit.

(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: AP/Illustration picture: Engin Akyurt for Unsplash)

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