Can a baking ingredient prove harmful? Some scientists are saying yes, and teens are pushing the limits by trying the “Cinnamon Challenge.

What it is:

 
The Cinnamon Challenge is  a new “game” for teens that is growing popularity in the South. A person tries to swallow an entire tablespoonful of the spice without any liquid in under a minute.

The Cinnamon Challenge website (yes, there’s an actual website) identifies the first “symptom” as dragon breath, the moment you exhale large amounts of the spice into the air.

According to a Washington Post story, the challenge is so difficult due the drying agents in the powder. (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2010/04/swallowing_cinnamon.html

What are the risks?

The Cinnamon Challenge website offers this disclosure:

“DO NOT ATTEMPT THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE WITHOUT TALKING WITH A DOCTOR
OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE GOING TO TELL YOU NOT TO DO IT. THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE CAN BE DANGEROUS AND SHOULDN’T BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. YOU NEVER WANT TO PURPOSELY OR MISTAKINGLY INHALE ANY SUBSTANCES SUCH AS CINNAMON. IT’S GOING TO BURN, YOU ARE GOING TO COUGH, AND REGRET YOU TRIED…SO WATCH MOVIES OF PEOPLE ALREADY FEELING THE PAIN.”

Other news outlets aren’t convinced that an all-caps paragraph on the homepage isn’t enough.

Cinnamon contains Cinnamaldehyde, which is used as a pesticide and fungicide, according to a Mother Nature Network post.

Large amounts of cinnamon can also lead to burning and swelling of the throat which leads to asphyxiation.

A school district in Pennsylvania has gone as far as to issue a public warning against the challenge.

What is the appeal?

To put it simply, no one knows.

Website after website describes the challenge as painful, harmful and even potentially fatal although not one has offered a suggestion about why anyone would want to do it.

Is it mere prestige? According to the Cinnamon Challenge website, 99.9 percent of those who try it will fail.

Other students said they had a high from the cinnamon rush.

Regardless, no fatalities have been reported so far. It’s just a matter of time until someone takes this too far.

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