A sprinkle of cinnamon can add spice to a bland dish, but a spoonful could potentially be deadly.
The cinnamon challenge, which first surfaced in a 2006 YouTube video, has resurged as a viral phenomenon in past months, evident by thousands of users posting their recent attempts on the video-sharing site. The challenge dares participants to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon without vomiting, spitting out or inhaling the powder.
Known for its difficulty, the challenge often ends in coughing, choking, spitting, vomiting and other signs of severe discomfort.
Communications disorder sophomore Courtney Wolf said she was undeterred when deciding to take on the seemingly innocuous spice challenge. She said her friends dared her to do the challenge after reading a story about it online.
“It didn’t sound too threatening at the time,” Wolf said. “I thought to myself, ‘I like cinnamon.'”
Like many others, Wolf failed the challenge. She said the aftermath was unbearable, causing her to choke uncontrollably and her mouth to turn dry.
Justin Efferson, communication studies junior, suffered a similar fate when he took on the challenge after being dared by a co-worker during a slow day on the job. Efferson said he was so eager to prove he could defeat the challenge that he threw the cinnamon into the back of his mouth.
“I was coughing everywhere, with cinnamon clouds coming out of my throat,” Efferson said.
He said his friends laughed as he endured the torments of the challenge, which caused him to vomit.
Both Efferson and Wolf said the challenge, although painful, is harmless, since neither suffered any long-term damage.
Rhett Allain, physics professor at Southeastern University and blogger for Wired Science, performed an experiment to explain the difficulty of the cinnamon challenge. He said cinnamon cannot dissolve in water or saliva and should not be ingested.
Excessive choking or cinnamon being lodged in one’s lung are potential side effects, meaning death is a plausible result of the challenge, Allain said.
“Someone is going to cough in a way that’s going to give them a heart attack,” Allain said.
Environmental news resource Mother Nature Network also cautioned readers about the challenge.
“It seems only a matter of time until the challenge delivers a fatal blow to some unsuspecting teen,” the website wrote.
An excessive amount of cinnamon can serve as a respiratory irritant that can trigger asthma or COPD, and ingredients in cinnamon such as coumarin could also lead to liver disease, Mother Nature Network wrote.
Wolf said although she has not suffered any side effects from the challenge, she would not recommend anyone to try it.
“I definitely felt like I lost a couple of brain cells after that challenge,” Wolf said.
Efferson said he understands the severity of the challenge, but he stills feels people will attempt the cinnamon challenge for its humor.
“There are more dangerous things that studies have proven are dangerous and people do it anyway,” Efferson said. “They’re not going to think twice about putting a little amount of cinnamon on their tongue.”
 
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Contact David Jones at [email protected]