You’ve probably seen or heard of the recent “One Chip Challenge” trending on TikTok and YouTube. If not, then let me explain. It’s a challenge where you’re supposed to eat an extremely spicy chip and try to survive for 1 hour without drinking anything, such as milk. However, people tend to underestimate the power behind just 1 small chip. That’s what I was thinking before I made the stupid decision to take a bite out of it. Believe me when I tell you that it was not fun at all.

The Scoville Scale

In 2016, Doug Lyon wanted to create “the world’s hottest chip” by lacing it with Carolina Reaper peppers. That’s right, the hottest pepper on Earth. Lyon created Paqui, which released the chip, but only for a limited amount of time. Now that it’s back, spice monsters aren’t hesitating to give the challenge a go. The reactions you’ll see from the unfortunate ones who’ve attempted the challenge are totally real. To remind you of how hot the Carolina Reaper pepper is, let me introduce to you the Scoville scale. Used for calculating the “spiciness” of a pepper, the Scoville scale measures the number of heat units inside a pepper based off the concentration of capsaicin, which is a chemical compound primarily found in hot chili peppers. You might be questioning: “Why does this even exist?” To tell you why, it’s simply because this chemical was biologically created to prevent animals from eating the food. Now that you’re somewhat educated of how the Scoville scale works, let’s get back to the One Chip Challenge.

The Peppers

As previously stated, the Carolina Reaper is officially known as the hottest pepper on Earth. Coming off at a whopping 1,400,00 – 2,200,000 units on the Scoville Scale, this pepper is no joke. The Jalapeno pepper measures 2,500-8,000 units on the Scoville. Crazy, right? Here’s something you didn’t know: the 2nd hottest pepper in the world, the Trinidad Scorpion measures 1,200,000 – 2,000,000 million units on the Scoville scale. What does that have to do with the Paqui chip? Well, the scorpion pepper chip challenge is also an option for you. That’s only if you’re ready, of course.

What can it do to your body?

If you’re reading this article, I’m kind of sure you’ve ate something spicy before and you know what the experience is like. Your mouth hurts, your face gets red, you start tearing up, and your nose gets congested. Those symptoms are extremely common. However, if you’re a newbie like me when it comes to spices, then the experience will be a lot different if you happen to come across the Paqui chip. Having not truly experienced the pain of an extremely hot chip, the symptoms will get a lot worse for you. Unfortunately for me, my body went into anaphylactic shock. If you’re not sure what that is, it’s basically like your immune system having a heart attack – but not really a HEART attack. A hot mouth will probably not be the worse thing that’ll happen to you if you eat the chip.

Hear advice before you take the bite!

If you’re really interested in what the experience is like, or if you’re being peer pressured, just be aware of the consequences. Although you’ll probably impress your parents, you might live with regret. Think twice before you take the bite. Oh, and definitely do not forget to bring milk!