this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2024
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Fourteen high school students in Tokyo were admitted to hospital after eating "super spicy" potato crisps, police said.

Around 30 students ate the fiery snacks after one of them brought them to school on Tuesday, Japanese local media reported.

Soon, some of them started complaining of nausea and acute pain around their mouth, prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police.

The 13 girls and one boy who were taken to hospital were conscious and reportedly had minor symptoms.

The company that makes the snack, Isoyama Corp, put out a statement, apologising for "any inconvenience" to customers, and wished the students a swift recovery.

...

The company website is full of warnings for those who may wish to try the crisps.

It "forbids" those under 18, external from consuming the crisps which are called "R 18+ curry chips", because of how spicy they are - and it warns even those who love hot food to "eat with caution". The crisps are "so spicy that they may cause you pain", it says.

The spiciness comes from the potent “ghost pepper”, cultivated in northeastern India, where it's known as bhut jolokia. Although it is used in recipes in India and elsewhere, it's known to be among the world's hottest chillis.

The kick from your chilli can have side effects

The Japanese firm, in fact, advises people not to "eat the chips when they are alone” and says they could cause diarrhoea if eaten "excessively".

Those with high blood pressure and weak stomachs "are absolutely prohibited" from eating the crisps, according to the company's website. It warns people who have cuts on their fingers to be careful while opening the packets.

Those who are "timid or too scared" are also discouraged from trying the snack.

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[–] Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 37 points 4 months ago (1 children)

X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, saying "they must be next-level spicy!"

The fuck, BBC? Relevance?

[–] Vector@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago

Probably good for the article’s search ratings to name drop him.

Something something high quality content…

[–] MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Is it really even "food" at that point? It sounds like something specifically made for people to dare each other to eat it and make YouTube videos lol if it's that spicy maybe you should have to show ID to get it?

[–] awesome_lowlander@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's also culture dependent. Japanese don't really have spicy foods in their cuisine, so on average they don't have much tolerance to it. As compared to other countries where it might be considered on the high end but not debilitatingly so

[–] subignition@fedia.io 7 points 4 months ago

Yeah, the hottest japanese curry roux blocks I've been able to find stateside barely register as mild from a Thai or Indian curry perspective

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

My brother is constantly after hotter spices. He sees it as some sort of challenge.

[–] MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I used to do that when I was in my 20s! I eventually got to the point where I could handle foods so spicy the kitchen staff would come out to see if I would actually eat it or not lol sadly my stomach could not keep up and I eventually had quit before I got an ulcer

[–] OrlandoDoom 10 points 4 months ago

There was a place near where I used to live that did a wicked ghost pepper curry, when I lived there I ate it at least once a week because it was fucking delicious.

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

So... When are these getting imported for the Tik Tok challenge? I'm not a Tik Tok person, but would still like to try some. Yes, pain is good.

[–] w2tpmf@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

It says they used ghost pepper. Pretty sure that's already been a challenge that's been done a bunch.

You can get much hotter peppers if you want a challenge. Scorpion Peppers, Carolina Reapers.... Or the new king which is Pepper X.

Check out https://pepperjoe.com/ for all kinds of super hot pepper hybrids and products made with them.

[–] tyler@programming.dev 3 points 4 months ago

Sounds exactly like the One Chip Challenge which you can get in the states. My former coworker went to the hospital from eating one.

[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

[Eats chip] "n.....nani?!"

[–] smeg 3 points 4 months ago

prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police

The crisps were arrested and a fire hose was blasted into the mouths of the affected students

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 3 points 4 months ago

Sounds like the next LA Beast video sorted then.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 2 points 4 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Fourteen high school students in Tokyo were admitted to hospital after eating "super spicy" potato crisps, police said.

Around 30 students ate the fiery snacks after one of them brought them to school on Tuesday, Japanese local media reported.

Soon, some of them started complaining of nausea and acute pain around their mouth, prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police.The 13 girls and one boy who were taken to hospital were conscious and reportedly had minor symptoms.The company that makes the snack, Isoyama Corp, put out a statement, apologising for "any inconvenience" to customers, and wished the students a swift recovery.

It "forbids" those under 18, external from consuming the crisps which are called "R 18+ curry chips", because of how spicy they are - and it warns even those who love hot food to "eat with caution".

The kick from your chilli can have side effectsThe Japanese firm, in fact, advises people not to "eat the chips when they are alone” and says they could cause diarrhoea if eaten "excessively".

In one video, external, a user who appears to be wincing, described it as "painful" and said it reminded him of the time he had urinary stones.X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, saying "they must be next-level spicy!"


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