A lawsuit has been filed after the death of a Massachusetts teen who participated in a popular food challenge.
Harris Wolobah, a 14-year-old sophomore at Worcester’s Doherty Memorial High School, died on Sept. 1, 2023, after eating a spicy tortilla chip.
Paqui, the company behind the “One Chip Challenge,” packages only a single chip in each coffin-shaped container. The claim is that these chips are the spiciest in the world.
“They struggle with this horrible situation every hour of every day of their lives,” family attorney Douglas Sheff said of surviving relatives at a Boston news conference, according to WBTS-CD.
“They believe that by filing this lawsuit, they’re going to ensure that this doesn’t happen to other kids and other families.”
Family of Harris Wolobah launches lawsuit after teen dies during ‘One Chip Challenge’ https://t.co/kPdsvRHEti pic.twitter.com/YTZSZXu5RY
— The Independent (@Independent) July 11, 2024
Chip manufacturer Paqui, parent company Hershey Co. and Walgreens are all named in the suit.
Sheff said these companies manufactured a “perfect storm of danger” creating, marketing, and selling the “One Chip Challenge.” Although the product was sold with an adults-only warning, minors were able to purchase the single-chip servings.
Wolobah’s issues were not the only ones linked to the chip, prompting action from the manufacturer.
Should Paqui be held liable for this death?
In the wake of Wolobah’s death, Paqui pulled the chip from shelves and quickly issued a statement announcing a decision to discontinue the product.
“We were and remain deeply saddened by the death of Harris Wolobah and extend our condolences to his family and friends,” the company’s 2023 statement reads. “Paqui’s One Chip Challenge was intended for adults only, with clear and prominent labeling highlighting that the product was not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods or with underlying health conditions.
“We saw increased reports of teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings. As a result, while the product adhered to food safety standards, out of an abundance of caution, we worked with retailers to voluntarily remove the product from shelves in September 2023, and the One Chip Challenge has been discontinued.”
An autopsy of Wolobah found he had an enlarged heart and a congenital defect in a coronary artery. These condition may have been exacerbated by the spices, potentially playing role in the teen’s death.
Wolobah initially ate the chip at school and soon felt ill.
He was sent to the nurse’s office. Wolobah was picked up by his mother, telling her a classmate had given him the chip. The teen appeared to be improving while returning home.
Later that afternoon, his family called for help after Wolobah was found unresponsive. Paramedics arrived to find him not breathing.
The teen was transported to an area hospital, where he was declared dead.
“Had it not been for the chip,” Sheff said, “he would have had a normal, healthy life.”
