The Food and Drug Administration is warning people not to cook chicken in cough medicine after a video on TikTok encouraging users to cook raw chicken with NyQuil got renewed interest.
The FDA cautioned that even just cooking with cough and cold medicine is dangerous because it could cause a person to inhale high levels of the medication’s vapors.
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“Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways,” the FDA said. “Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs. Put simply: Someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.”
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FDA issued warning of TikTok challenge that encourages people to cook chicken in NyQuil pic.twitter.com/ahTtA8ETsm
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It’s not clear whether any people have gotten sick from the challenge or have participated in it. One video that quickly went viral across social media does not show any people physically eating the chicken. Still, the video and the FDA response drew commentary across social media on Tuesday.
The agency is encouraging parents to keep over-the-counter and prescription drugs out of reach of children and discuss the dangers of misusing them in response.
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This is not the first time a viral video challenge has prompted the FDA to respond. The agency previously warned that taking more than the recommended doses of over-the-counter allergy medicine Benadryl could lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death after a viral TikTok “Benadryl Challenge” urged users to take large doses of the medicine.
If a person believes he or she has taken too much medication and is hallucinating, has trouble breathing, has collapsed, or is showing other signs of drug misuse, he or she or another person is encouraged to call 911 or contact poison control at 1-800-222-1222.
