Thailand’s Food and Drugs Administration has warned parents not to feed their children “Hell Spicy Jelly” jelly beans — advertised to contain Carolina Reaper, the world’s hottest pepper — saying that eating them is a “suitable punishment alternative to caning.”
Dr. Poonlap Chantaweejittawong from the FDA warned people not to prank their friends with the jelly beans — as eating ultra spicy snacks could cause irritation to the abdomen and could be very dangerous if their friends were allergic.
Eating the spicy bear-shaped snacks, which have actually been approved by FDA (with the above caveats), has turned into an internet challenge in the past month. The product is popular amongst celebrity Thai YouTubers, who may or may not have been paid to do a video on the product.
Responding to the social media craze, Dr. Poonlap said the FDA suspects that the firm producing the treats may be guilty of mislabeling the product — big time — as it’s hard to imagine a jelly bean billed as 1 percent chili could be this spicy.
Of course, one possible way to get to the bottom of this would be to actually test the food product before approving it for public consumption, but hey, what do we know?
The candy’s manufacturer, C.M. Gummy, who originally registered the product as “chili-flavored gelatin snacks,” could be fined THB30,000 (about US$950) for that.
On social media, aside from being “an alternative punishment to caning,” the jelly beans are also advertised as the “perfect gift for your dear friends” and “an antidote for when you feel sleepy from working or studying.”
True, nothing wakes you up like intense pain.
While we here at Coconuts have no plans to risk our sanity or tongues by trying it, there plenty of YouTube clips out there now you can check out to watch the reactions.
Two of the most popular clips, by users Kyutae Oppa and Bearhug, saw them attempt to eat a large amount of the jelly beans from hell by simply melting the snacks down and drinking them.
Why, people?
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