The Massachusetts teenager who died after participating in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from consuming too much chili extract, along with a congenital heart defect.
Tenth grader Harris Wolobah died at the beginning of the school year after eating the Paqui brand chip, which subsequently removed the product from shelves.
In a note from the City of Worcester Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, Wolobah’s cause of death is listed as cardiopulmonary arrest (i.e., heart attack) “in the context of recent ingestion of a dietary substance with a high concentration of capsaicin.”
Capsaicin is what gives chili peppers their often extreme heat.
Harris Wolobah, 14, died hours after eating a spicy tortilla chip as part of the ‘One Chip Challenge’, a social media trend that has garnered billions of views on TikTok. The Massachusetts teenager was a talented athlete described by his family as “a light that lit up the room.”
The 2023 edition of ‘One Chip Challenges’ features a tortilla chip flavored with two of the hottest peppers possible, the California Reaper Pepper and the Naga Viper Pepper. The California Reaper is ranked the hottest pepper in the world
The autopsy also said the teen had cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) as well as a congenital defect described as “myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery.”
The defect is described as an artery that runs through the heart muscle instead of resting on the surface of the heart.
Paqui, owned by the Hershey company, pulled the chips from stores after Wolobah’s untimely death, but had previously been selling them for about $10 each.
The black pepper chip came wrapped in aluminum foil in a coffin-shaped box that contained a warning about the severity of the chip’s “heat and pain.”
Despite the warning that the chip was not for children, young consumers had no problems getting the product.
Other teens across the country also reportedly became ill after consuming the chip, including three California teens who were taken to a hospital.
The black chip of death was sprinkled with Carolina Reaper pepper and Naga Viper pepper and became part of the ‘One Chip Challenge’, which went viral on social media.
Paqui, the chip’s manufacturer, encouraged people to test their physical limits. Those who can endure the burning pain for up to an hour without eating or drinking earn the title ‘Apex Predator’.
On September 1 last year, the boy’s mother was called to his school when Harris complained of stomach pain. She had eaten the hot chip after a classmate gave it to her.
The young teenager felt better after returning home, but fainted at 4:30 pm when he was about to leave for basketball tryouts.
talking with him Worcester TelegramPolice Lt. Sean Murtha said the child was unresponsive and not breathing. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Harris’ mother, Lois Wolobah, told a local television station last year that before his death, her son was a healthy basketball player with no known allergies.
“I hope, I pray to God that no parent goes through what I’m going through,” he said.
‘I don’t want to see anyone suffering like me. I miss my son a lot. I miss him a lot.’
In October 2022, a school district in Lafayette, Louisiana, forbidden chips from all campuses after several students needed medical attention.
Less than a month later, paramedics were called to a high school in Dunwood, Georgia, prompting police to issue a warning about the snack.
