Re: The Cinnamon Challenge… Really
Cherrie Patete
The cinnamon challenge is a viral internet food challenge. Participants film themselves eating a spoonful of ground cinnamon in under 60 seconds without drinking anything,[1] with the video being uploaded to the Internet as evidence.[2][3][4] The challenge is difficult and carries substantial health risks because the cinnamon coats and dries the mouth and throat, resulting in coughing, gagging, vomiting, and inhalation of cinnamon, which can in turn lead to throat irritation, breathing difficulties, and risk of pneumonia[1] or a collapsed lung.[5]
The challenge has been described online since 2001, and increased in popularity in 2007, peaking abruptly in January 2012 and falling off almost as sharply through the first half of that year, then tapering off almost to its previous level by 2014.[6][non-primary source needed] By 2010, many people had posted videos of themselves attempting this challenge on YouTube and other social networking websites.[3] At the peak, Twitter mentions reached nearly 70,000 per day.[7][8]
The stunt can be dangerous, as there is a risk of gagging or choking on the cinnamon, especially if it forms a clump and clogs one's airways. Accidental inhalation of cinnamon can seriously damage the lungs[3] by causing inflammation and leading to infection.[9] The usual result of this stunt is "a coughing, gagging fit involving clouds of cinnamon" which "leaves some people gasping for air".[9] Sometimes those performing the stunt may gag, choke or cough and accidentally exhale the cinnamon through their noses, coating their skin and mucous membranes in cinnamon.[10] As cinnamon is rich in the compound cinnamaldehyde that can irritate skin and tissues,[11] the challenge often results in considerable irritation, discomfort, burning, or itching of the affected nasal tissue and nostrils. Preclinical studies in rats have shown that the cellulose fibers which comprise cinnamon are also responsible for triggering allergic hypersensitivity reactions.[12] On YouTube, people have been seen "coughing, choking and lunging for water, usually as friends watch and laugh."[13] Vomiting is also known to have occurred.[13]
The cinnamon challenge can be life-threatening or fatal.[15] In the first three months of 2012, American poison control centers received over a hundred phone calls as a result of the cinnamon challenge.[1] A high-school student in Michigan spent four days in a hospital after attempting the cinnamon challenge.[16] Pneumonia, inflammation and scarring of the lungs, and collapsed lungs are further risks.[12][17][5][18]
The cinnamon challenge was aired on the twelfth series of the reality television show Big Brother UK, in which show participants were to ingest ground cinnamon without the aid of water.[19][20] Radio programs have also aired segments of people performing this stunt,[21][22][23] and others in the public limelight have been reported as airing the stunt for public display, including NBA players Nick Young and JaVale McGee.[7][24]
Many people upload their cinnamon challenge to YouTube. Comedian Colleen Ballinger told The Wall Street Journal that she took the challenge in character as Miranda Sings, in 2012, to increase her YouTube traffic after hundreds of her fans had asked her to take the challenge. Her video received more than 2 million views, even though it is on a discontinued YouTube channel.[8][25] Another comedian, GloZell Green, has attracted more than 59 million views with her cinnamon challenge video, in which she uses a soup ladle full of cinnamon instead of the usual tablespoon.[26][27]
A large group attempt at the cinnamon challenge was held in 2012 at RMIT University in Australia and involved 64 participants in quick succession.[28] In a 2012 episode of the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, each member of the Build Team attempted the challenge. Kari Byron and Grant Imahara failed, while Tory Belleci completed it by tucking his spoonful into his cheek and letting saliva accumulate in his mouth until he could swallow. However, it took him more than 60 seconds to do so.[29]
In the 2013 episode of Chicago Fire titled "Defcon 1", a cinnamon challenge is held to determine who will get to live in Severide's new apartment. The challenge is abandoned, and the team is reprimanded by the chief. In 2015, Freddie Flintoff took the challenge on A League of Their Own (S9 ep1), and Criminal Minds actor Matthew Gray Gubler was recorded taking the challenge unsuccessfully.[30] The challenge is also featured on Fox's Family Guy's 14th-season opener, "Pilling Them Softly", in which Peter Griffin makes numerous attempts.[31]
The challenge -- attempting to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon powder in 60 seconds without liquids -- isn't just painful. According to a paper published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics, cinnamon misuse was cited in almost 200 calls to U.S. poison control centers during the first half of 2012 with 30 of these cases requiring medical attention.
The corresponding author, Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz of the University of Miami School of Medicine, suggests that the combination of cinnamon's caustic chemical and undigestible cellulose matrix makes the practice particularly damaging to the lungs.
The idea of the challenge has circulated for years but has intensified with the popularity of YouTube, especially in the last three years. The oldest YouTube video documenting such a challenge was uploaded on April 2, 2006. Pre-YouTube, the Cinnamon Challenge was first documented on the web by Michael Buffington as it was played by Erik Goodlad on December 21, 2001, according to KnowYourMeme.com. The CC2K1 was then reported by Jason Kottke on December 22, 2001. Buffington's original URL is no longer active but is archived at his current site, collusioni.st.
1. "Natural " is not always safe. Just because cinnamon is a naturally-occurring spice -- it's harvested from the dried bark of several Cinnamomum tree species -- doesn't mean it can't be harmful. Cinnamon is deemed safe for consumption as a food additive under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's classification of Generally Recognized As Safe, or GRAS, list. But the FDA is silent on spice inhalation.
2. Cinnamaldehyde rhymes with formaldehyde. The chemical that gives cinnamon its characteristic smell and zing is known as cinnamic aldehyde, or cinnamaldehyde. This means there's a part of the chemical that acts like formaldehyde that binds and has the potential to "fix" human tissue. Do you remember smelling formaldehyde in your high school biology class when dissecting some dead animal? That's what cinnamaldehyde can do in high concentrations. (Okay, I'm being overly dramatic here. It's #3, next, that's the biggest health problem).
3. Cinnamon is ground tree bark. So not only are you inhaling a tissue fixative, you're also inhaling powdered bark. That's why it's difficult to spit out or, more importantly, get out of your lungs. The cellulose matrix of tree bark acts like a sustained release medicine, but in this case releasing a painful and damaging chemical. The body cannot metabolize cellulose. That's probably okay for the stuff that's swallowed. It'll only burn tomorrow morning at potty time. But the stuff in the lungs is hard to expire. In my grandfather's day, inhaling coal dust led to a condition called black lung. In my father's day, people would get a lung cancer called mesothelioma from inhaling asbestos fibers. In 1984, a paper in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine detailed the lung disease and hair and weight loss in Sri Lankan spice workers who process cinnamon quills.
4. Only doing it once can trigger an asthma attack. Doing it once won't cause any of these chronic illnesses -- probably. This 1995 paper in the Indian Journal of Medical Research shows that rats given a single intratracheal dose of cinnamon powder can develop severe lung damage a month later. In humans, inhaling cinnamon powder even once could at least cause an asthma attack, or uncontrollable spasms and narrowing of the bronchioles. While I haven't yet seen any reports of deaths associated with the Cinnamon Challenge, I would never attempt doing this because I have a history of asthma and try to steer away from anything that might trigger a fatal asthma attack. In fact, I really don't care for non-fatal asthma attacks. You shouldn't either.
No, you probably won't have a conniption fit from watching too many GIFs, or a stroke from scrolling through The Fat Jew's Instagram feed. But should you try to replicate some of the allegedly harmless idiocy that recurs in those slapstick videos of assorted "challenges," you might not come out alive.
Despite being rushed to the hospital, Matthew's accidental death was confirmed an hour and a half after the incident. According to the coroner at the facility, it's not uncommon to see asphyxiation caused by inhaled cinnamon powder, which can enter the lungs and obstruct the flow of oxygen.
With cinnamon challenge videos permeating the internet at every turn, Radar is eager to make her case that the all-in-fun stunt can actually have serious consequences. In case you're not aware of the rules, the cinnamon challenge is simple: swallow a heaping spoonful of cinnamon powder within one minute without the aid of water or other drinks.
You'll find a host of similar challenges peppered all over YouTube and other video platforms: the banana and Sprite challenge, which almost inevitably leads to vomiting; the Warhead challenge, which leaves your mouth bloody with chemical burns; and of course, loads of hot pepper challenges, which are generally marked by excessive sweating, swearing, and even puking and fainting. But for whatever reason, the cinnamon challenge seems to be the most popular. Medical Daily claims that somewhere between 40,000 and 209,000 videos exist of people piling their mouths with the spicy powder, knowing full well that are they are about to feel absolutely terrible.
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