- Here’s another warning that they really shouldn’t have needed to put out.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had to issue a general warning about food safety. The agency has told people not to boil their chicken in cold medicine.
Why did the FDA feel the need to put out such a ridiculous warning? Why, because of a new TikTok challenge, of course.
Considering how many times we’ve covered stupid and dangerous TikTok fads, you’d think we’d have already gone as low as we can go. But no, apparently nobody had tried cooking a delicious NyQuil chicken yet.
In this latest ridiculous trend, the would-be TikTok star boils a chicken in NyQuil or a similar cold medicine. After the chicken is cooked and soaked in the unnatural color of whatever medicine was used in the recipe, the person then proceeds to eat the chicken.
Do we have to point out that this is a very bad and potentially lethal idea?
Well, apparently it did need pointing out.
‘Silly and Unappetizing’
The FDA warning, published on September 15, follows a recent resurgence of NyQuil chicken on social media platforms. Indeed, it’s not strictly restricted to TikTok — stupid people use a lot of different apps.
“The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is. But it could also be very unsafe,” the FDA wrote.
The reason why NyQuil chicken is so dangerous is because of boiling. If you boil a chicken in cold medication, a lot of water content in the medicine will evaporate, leaving behind a concentrated sludge of its active ingredients.
As a result, even if you tried to do the ridiculous stunt safely, you may accidentally consume a dangerous amount of chemicals. And you don’t even have to eat the chicken to put yourself at risk.
“Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs,” the FDA warned.
“Put simply: someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.”
It Started with a Meme
Although the warning came just now, NyQuil chicken isn’t a new phenomenon. It has been doing circles around the internet for years.
The concept of boiling chicken in NyQuil emerged in 2017. At that time, though, it was mainly a bunch of images intended to be jokes.
“If she makes you NyQuil chicken, do NOT let her go,” one meme declares.
In 2019, however, the joke got more serious. At that time, people on YouTube started cooking the unholy meal and eating it on camera.
From there, the videos spread to TikTok earlier this year, until finally making their way to Twitter. And that’s how we got to where we are today.
OD’ing on Allergy Meds
If you thought things couldn’t get even stupider, think again. The FDA felt they should include another warning in the NyQuil chicken message.
This one also concerns taking medication in improper ways. The health authority told people that they shouldn’t try to overdose on Benadryl.
As it turns out, there’s been a TikTok trend going around called the Benadryl Challenge. You’re supposed to film yourself taking so much of the popular allergy medicine that you start hallucinating.
The problem is that you’re more likely to kill yourself than start seeing beyond the veil of reality.
“Prompted by news reports of teenagers needing to go to the emergency room or, in some cases, dying after participating in this challenge and taking too much medication, the [FDA] warned the public about the danger of high doses of diphenhydramine,” the agency wrote.
Don’t Got the Brains to Be Smart
At this point, you might be wondering what is it about kids that gets them to do these ridiculous things. We just might have the answer.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the teenage brain isn’t fully developed in terms of rational thought. The prefrontal cortex, which governs our understanding of consequences and problem-solving, doesn’t reach maturity until the mid-20s.
We’d still like to believe that even impaired common sense should tell you that boiling a chicken in NyQuil isn’t very smart.
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