At least 10 students had to be taken to the emergency room after coming into contact with a spicy chewing gum while at elementary school in western Massachusetts, according to the local fire department.
It happened on Tuesday at Dexter Park School in the town of Orange.
"It was something that you see in, like, a horror movie. Honestly, it just kind of felt like these kids had been under attack," one parent, Kathleen Woodard, told local ABC station WGGB. She said she was called to pick up her son, who had tried the gum and was vomiting.
"Kids were crying," she told the station. "They were just lined up down the hall in the front hall area. Their hands were red, their faces were beet red and they were crying, saying it hurt. Some of them were a deep red."
The Orange Fire Department told local NBC station, WWLP, that six children were taken by ambulance to the hospital while several more were transported by their parents.
Southborough Police Department confirmed that the gum used was CaJohns Trouble Bubble Bubble Gum, which is sold online for $12.95. A popular social media challenge is to chew the gum and blow a bubble.
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“This is not for wimpy people, elderly, children, pets or people with heart conditions and excessive sweating problems,” the product description reads. “ All pepper extracts should be handled with extreme caution. Pepper extract is know to cause sever reactions including pain, vomiting, diarrhea, prolonged cramps, and more. Know your limit and Consider yourself warned.”
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CaJohns Fiery Foods and the website selling the products, United Sauces, did not respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment on April 7.
A quick search on TikTok shows dozens of people trying the gum, with varying levels of success dating as far back as 2021.
WWLP reports the Orange School District superintendent said officials are investigating and they will take disciplinary action.
“I ask that you speak with your child about bringing in candy or accepting such items in school, which are not permitted as part of our wellness policy. It is difficult for students to understand that items can often contain ingredients others are allergic to or created to cause physical distress,” Dr. Elizabeth Teahan-Zielinski, the superintendent of the Orange School District, told WWLP.
The Southborough Police Department warned other parents to be vigilant and encourage their children not to partake in the gum in a post shared on April 5.
"(The) chewing gum that contains the same active ingredient as police pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum. Police level pepper spray is normally rated to 1 to 2 million Scoville heat units," the post reads. The Scoville scale is a means to measure heat in chili peppers and other materials. The online listing for the gum shows several large warnings on the packaging and describes the gum as having 16 million Scoville units in each piece.
The Southborough Police Department added that anyone who tries the gum should be treated for extensive exposure to oleoresin capsicum and "immediately" should rinse, swish around, spit out water."
"If, by chance, they have actually swallowed the saliva, they may vomit and have difficulty breathing," the statement said. "These individuals should be evaluated and transported to an emergency room."
The children in Massachusetts aren't the only ones who have had to go to the hospital after chewing the gum.
Popular YouTube star FaZe Rug tried the gum last year and documented the experience in a video. His father, who goes by Papa Rug on social media, later would reveal he had to be hospitalized after chewing the gum.
“Seeing my dad come close to death might not have put a smile on your face,” Faze Rug said in a voiceover later.
“Yeah, this gum was no joke,” Papa Rug reflected in a follow up video. “Like, spicy spicy.”
Faze and Papa Rug did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
Video creator Tal Klein, who goes by Spizee online, specializes in eating spicy foods. He opened up to TODAY.com about what it was like eating the CaJohns Trouble Bubble Bubble Gum. He has tried the challenge twice.
He said the first time he chewed the gum, he failed to blow a bubble.
"It felt like just how chewing hot lava basically," he said. "It was a type of pain that I didn't expect to have."
He said he wasn't able to stand it for more than two minutes the first time around. He cited the oleoresin capsicum as what likely made the experience so painful.
“It really felt like putting fire in your mouth," he said.
A year later, Klein tried the gum again. He says after eating spicy foods for his videos for months, he has more "immunity" to the gum and was able to blow a bubble.
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