Supermarket pulls 'world's hottest crisps' from shelves over TikTok challenge

This is one of the popular duos on the Tik Tok social network. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and Carolina Reaper are the most explosive peppers on the platform, literally. Graded between 1.4 and 2.2 million on the Scoville scale, they make the famous spicy crisp "the hottest in the world".

In the package of "Hot Chip Challenge" chips (the name of the challenge inherited from the brand name), marketed at the beginning of April in a hypermarket in Moselle, there is only one chip and one pair of gloves. The latter is essential because any contact with the skin can cause burns. The goal of the challenge is to eat the chips while filming yourself to create a comic effect. The practice is even motivated by the brand, which, on its website, encourages sharing the videos on social networks. Produced in the Czech Republic, the chips are however legal and fall within the nails of European health legislation.

"My teams have decided to market this product which boasts of being the spiciest in the world", explains on Facebook François Rodriguez, the store manager who justifies himself by invoking the search for "new products which can arouse the envy of clients". "Hot Chip Challenge" was quickly removed from the shelves of the Moselle supermarket after its marketing: "After a few days, we realized that the chips were the subject of games on social networks", explains François Rodriguez before explain the use that adolescents made of it: "Young people [...] put themselves in states that I describe as dangerous", he concludes to justify this withdrawal. The manufacturer speaks of a burn that can last “5 to 10 minutes”.

On the Hot Chip Challenge website, the side effects are described as follows: "You may experience blurred vision, difficulty breathing, and sweatiness." According to Magali Labadie, head of the poison control and toxicology center at the Bordeaux University Hospital interviewed by FranceInfo in January, some people may be victims of vagal discomfort. What give cold sweats to parents who must double their vigilance.