It’s known as “Sleepy Chicken,” and has been going viral all over Tik Tok. In the initial video posted at least a year ago, the user fries two chicken breasts in NyQuil, a cold and flu medicine, and flips them with a hair straightener.
The Food and Drug Administration has spoken out against the video, and on September 15, released a statement on their website.
“The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing- and it is. But it can also be very unsafe. Boiling medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. 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 also took the opportunity to offer several suggestions on how parents can avoid their children participating in such outlandish “challenges” or trends. Over the counter medications along with prescription medications should be kept away from children.
“Sit down with your children and discuss the dangers of misusing drugs and how social media trends lead to real, sometimes irreversible, damage,” said the FDA, “Remind your children that overdoses can occur with OTC drugs as well as with prescription drugs.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics also released a statement on their website explaining that teens are more susceptible to challenges like this because their brains are still not fully developed.
“Social media rewards outrageous behavior, and the more outrageous, the bigger the bragging rights. It’s a quick moving, impulsive environment, and the fear of losing out is real for teens. The environment plays into a teen’s underdeveloped ability to think through their actions and possible consequences,” said the AAP, which also encourages parents to have open conversations with their children.
The FDA also took the opportunity to relate the new trend to previous trends such as “the Benadryl Challenge,” which caused many teens to be admitted into the hospital and even led to deaths. There was also the “Tide Pod Challenge,” and the “Bleach Challenge,” where children were encouraged to ingest these harmful chemicals simply to see what would happen.
Since the FDA has released their statement, the original video has been taken down, and the hashtags ‘‘SleepyChicken’ and ‘NyQuilChicken’ have been blocked.
Unfortunately, looking up ‘NyQuil’ will still reveal videos of the dangerous concoction.
