BOSTON — A lawsuit was filed Thursday against Hershey, Walgreens and several others in the case of a Massachusetts teenager who died after participating in a spicy tortilla chip challenge that was widely promoted on social media.
Harris Wolobah, a 10th grader from Worcester, died on September 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer’s “One Chip Challenge.” An autopsy found that Wolobah died after eating a large amount of pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect.
Harris died of cardiopulmonary arrest “in the context of recent ingestion of a food substance with a high concentration of capsaicin,” according to the autopsy by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office. Capsaicin is the component that gives peppers their heat. The autopsy also said Harris had cardiomegaly, meaning an enlarged heart, and a congenital defect described as “myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery.”
“Today we filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of this wonderful family for the loss of their beloved son, Harris,” said Douglas Sheff, one of the attorneys representing the family in the lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court. The lawsuit seeks a court-ordered sentence that includes punitive damages.
Sheff said the parties created “a perfect storm” that led to Wolobah’s death, which included Paqui producing the spicy chip and encouraging people to post videos of themselves eating the chip on social media, while the lawsuit alleged that Walgreens sold the “poison chip” for children.
“The defendants charged about $10 for each chip, $10 for the chip that killed Harris, $10 for her life,” Sheff said. “Isn’t it clear that these defendants knew full well that this chip was unreasonably dangerous? And isn’t this an obvious marketing campaign designed to lure children into that very danger?”
Lois and Amos Wolobah, Harris’ parents, attended the news conference but did not speak. But at several points, Amos Wolobah appeared to get emotional and Lois appeared to blow a kiss to a photo of Harris that was shown.
The autopsy said Harris Wolobah had cardiomegaly, meaning an enlarged heart, and a congenital defect described as “left anterior descending coronary artery myocardial bridging.” But Sheff was convinced he had nothing to do with his death.
“The chip is what killed him,” he said.
Paqui, a Texas-based subsidiary of Hershey Co., expressed its sadness over Wolobah’s death, but also cited the chip’s “clear and prominent labeling, highlighting that the product was not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy or spicy foods.” underlying health problems. ”
The Paqui chip, sold individually for about $10, came wrapped in foil in a coffin-shaped box bearing the warning that it was intended for the “vindictive pleasure of intense heat and pain.” The alert warned that the chip was only for adult consumption and should be kept out of the reach of children. After seeing reports of teens and others not heeding these warnings, the company said it worked with retailers to “voluntarily remove the product from shelves in September 2023, and the One Chip Challenge has been discontinued.”
A Walgreens spokesperson said it had no comment on the lawsuit, while Hershey’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite the warning, children had no problem purchasing the fries, and there were reports of teenagers across the country becoming ill after taking part in the fries-eating challenge. Among them were three high school students from California who were taken to a hospital and seven students from Minnesota who were treated by paramedics after participating in the 2022 challenge.
The challenge required participants to eat the Paqui chip and then see how long they could go without consuming other food and water. Sales of the chip appeared largely driven by people posting videos on social media of themselves or their friends taking on the challenge. They showed people, including children, unwrapping the packaging, eating the fries and reacting to the heat. Some videos showed people choking, coughing and begging for water, and the lawsuit cites several examples of people becoming ill after eating the chip.
Harris Wolobah’s death prompted warnings from Massachusetts authorities and doctors, who warned that eating such spicy foods could have unintended consequences. Since the chip craze emerged, poison control centers have warned that the concentrated amount could cause allergic reactions, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeats and even heart attacks or strokes.
Sheff said the lawsuit aims to bring justice to the Wolobah family and serve as a warning “to all those who put our children in danger.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
