At least 40 students from Milton Union Middle School in Ohio suffered injuries after eating peppers. The children, who were between the ages of 11 to 14, started sweating and got watery eyes and blotchy skin. Some also developed hives as they ate Bhut Jolokia, which is supposedly one of the world's hottest chili peppers.
WHIO reports that the 40 kids ate Bhut Jolokia peppers during school lunch, but it is still unclear where the food item came from. It wasn't served at the school and allegedly, one of the students brought it for the kids to try out.
Five of the kids who ingested the world's hottest chili pepper were hospitalized for their injuries, while the rest were treated by an emergency medical staff at the school's clinic. One of the students said that when they took a bite of the peppers, they started to feel the hotness almost instantly. "We all drank like 10 cartons of milk," said Cody Smith, to describe how some students tried to relieve themselves.
But when the milk didn't help and some of the kids' conditions grew worse, the school called 911, which dispatched paramedics. School officials also informed parents about what had happened and they were then able to fetch their children from the school at 2:00 p.m. All other activities for the rest of the day were shut down due to the unpleasant incident.
A Bhut Jolokia pepper, also known as Ghost pepper, rates at one million Scoville heat units, while a regular Tabasco sauce only rates at 8,000 Scoville heat units, in a comparison bared by the Independent. The Smithsonian reports that Bhut Jolokia was once used in India's defense research in developing grenades and pepper sprays.
At the hospital, doctors grew increasingly concerned because some of the kids might have a history of asthma. However, most of the children were simply treated with antacid and soap, and no other serious cases were reported.
Dr. Pam Bucaro at the Dayton Children's Hospital explained that although kids love challenges and dares, there are just some things that shouldn't be treated as games. "There can be serious effects when ingesting things," she said in the Dayton Daily News. The school is still looking into the matter for further investigation.
