The Hershey Co. subsidiary Paqui has urged retailers to stop selling its One Chip Challenge product and posted a statement on its Web site reiterating the warnings of the potential danger of the product for non-adults, all in response to the death investigation of a teenager in Massachusetts whose family said consuming the chip contributed to the 14-year-old’s death.
C-store chain 7-Eleven has already pulled the individually wrapped, single-chip product from its shelves, according to an NPR report.
The cause of Harris Wolobah’s Sept. 1 death has not been determined, but the parents of the Worcester, Mass., teen have blamed the extremely spicy product.
Paqui’s One Chip Challenge is a single chip, wrapped in a foil pouch enclosed in a cardboard box. The packaging warns that the product is intended for adults and should not be consumed by children.
On the homepage of its Web site, Paqui reiterated the dangers of consuming the product, adding, “We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings,” and that it would offer refunds on the single-serve One Chip Challenge product.
