A dangerous TikTok challenge that was struggling to attract users went viral once the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against the challenge.
This challenge asks people to cook chicken with dangerous drugs which, according to health experts, can lead to liver damage.
FDA Just Promoted a Dangerous Trend
Before September 15, 2022, less than five people searched for NyQuil chicken on TikTok daily, but the FDA’s warning made the challenge so popular that many people started searching for it on the video streaming platform.
By September 21, 7,000 people searched for the term on TikTok.
FDA warns against potentially deadly 'NyQuil Chicken Challenge' that’s going viral on tiktok. Last week there was 5 searches. As of yesterday, searches grew more than 1400x pic.twitter.com/Wd07ILpecO
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) September 23, 2022
While releasing an update about the TikTok challenge, FDA noted many people are cooking chicken in NyQuil, notably in drugs like acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, and doxylamine, as well as in other cold medication drugs.
However, this trend looks highly unappetizing and foolish, the FDA added. Furthermore, the FDA established cooking chicken in night drugs could result in muscle and liver damage.
Likewise, an FDA spokesperson added seeing the growing trends of cooking chicken in dangerous drugs urged the FDA to issue a consumer update; so the agency warns all parents to monitor the safety of their children who use social media.
Until now, the #SleepyChicken hashtag has got almost 1.2 million views on TikTok. Many people also used the same hashtag to express disgust for the drugs-cooked chicken.
Even if consumers are making chicken for the sake of creating TikTok clips and not to eat, the food is still dangerous to people who smell it, the FDA warned.
Reportedly, boiling the medicines makes them more concentrated, so when people inhale their fumes, it is detrimental to their lungs, which can even cause death, as per the FDA.
FDA issued warning to not season your chicken with NyQuil after a TikTok challenge that is going viral encourages people to cook chicken in NyQuil
pic.twitter.com/mhnJW8vHvV— Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) September 21, 2022
NyQuil Urges Consumers Not to Misuse the Drug
As the backlash against the dangerous trend increased, TikTok also redirected search terms related to this topic to their community guidelines page to discourage users from participating in the challenge.
A TikTok spokesperson even claimed dangerous content has no place on the platform, adding the social media outlet will remove content that poses a threat to anyone, on and off the platform.
In 2020, Tiktok came under scrutiny for the same type of challenge, namely the “Benadryl Challenge,” in which many people were hospitalized after consuming allergy medicines that led to hallucinations.
Back then, the FDA also urged TikTokers not to use dangerous drugs in their video clips, but the trend did not stop. At least one girl in Oklahoma died after taking an inappropriate dose of the drug.
Meanwhile, NyQuil’s Twitter account urged consumers not to use the drugs in an inappropriate way, stating the medicine should only be used as per doctors’ guidelines.
This is not the first time TikTok is making headlines for controversial challenges.
Last year, seven children died while performing a blackout challenge on the platform, which urged users to choke themselves to a point where they fell unconscious.
This article appeared in TheDailyBeat and has been published here with permission.
