14-year-old died of heart attack after participating in a spicy tortilla chip challenge

The chief medical examiner’s office in Massachusetts has determined that a teenager who ate a tortilla chip containing a high concentration of a chemical compound found in chili peppers, died of a heart attack last September.

The chief medical examiner’s office in Massachusetts has determined that a teenager who ate a tortilla chip containing a high concentration of a chemical compound found in chili peppers, died of a heart attack last September. Harris Wolobah, who had a congenital heart defect, was attempting Paqui’s ultra-spicy “One Chip Challenge” when he ingested the tortilla chip seasoned with both the Carolina Reaper pepper and the Naga Viper pepper. Paqui voluntarily pulled the product, which was packaged in a coffin-shaped box, off shelves following Wolobah’s death in September. The chief medical examiner’s office on Thursday confirmed to CNN that Wolobah died of cardiopulmonary arrest after eating a food substance “with (a) high capsaicin concentration.” Capsaicin is the spicy, naturally occurring chemical in chili peppers. The Carolina Reaper Pepper ranks just under pepper spray on the Scoville scale, which measures the pungency of peppers and chilis. The Naga Viper is a bit less pungent, coming in at around 1.2 million heat units on the scale. That’s far spicier than a jalapeño pepper, which comes in at about 5,000 heat units.