Yes, the FDA has actually issued a warning about cooking chicken in NyQuil

Yes, the FDA has actually issued a warning about cooking chicken in NyQuil

First there was the Cinnamon Challenge, then the Tide Pod Challenge and then the Benadryl Challenge. The latest dangerous social media stunt everyone is talking about is NyQuil Chicken (aka “sleepy chicken”). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has even officially joined the trend. His advice? Don't try it.

The NyQuil chicken trend can be traced back early on like 2017 on Twitter but has since migrated to TikTok, where it has been making the rounds since the beginning of this year. In the trending videos, people seem to be cooking chicken breasts for fun and dousing them with full bottles of NyQuil. A video of a TikToker twisting flesh with a hair straightener has been viewed 4.3 million times. Jimmy Fallon even joked about it on his show in January 2022. His recipe includes: “Wake up four hours later, face down in your plate.”

Can NyQuil cause memory loss?

It's unclear how many people actually tried making "sleepy chicken" and whether they wanted to feel the effects of NyQuil while doing so. However, there have been no reports of hospitalizations or deaths related to the trend, The New York Times reports. That means trying could have serious consequences.

NyQuil, an over-the-counter sleep aid meant to be used when you're sick, contains acetaminophen, dextromethorphan and doxylamine, according to the FDA. Boiling the drug can make it even more concentrated and change its properties, the organization reports. Additionally, an overdose of dextromethorphan, which is found in NyQuil, can cause seizures, severe dizziness, liver problems and breathing problems, according to Mount Sinai.

Even cooking chicken in NyQuil without consuming it poses risks to your health, warns board-certified medical affairs specialist Suzanne Soliman, Pharm.D. “One of the biggest dangers is that once you diffuse the drug and smoke it, you inhale it, and that can cause lung damage and other problems,” Soliman says. "So when you inhale them, they get into your bloodstream very quickly. They don't actually go into your liver, where your liver normally detoxifies everything."

TikTok users are putting Preparation H under their eyes, and dermatologists are worried

TikTok appears to have made an effort to remove content that promotes the trend. If you search for "#sleepychicken" or "#NyQuilchicken" in the app, you'll see a safety pop-up about the dangers of online challenges with information and resources about potentially harmful TikTok trends. However, you can still find Videos and tweets about the trend online, where the general consensus is shocking that a trend like this has gained enough popularity for the FDA to make a statement about it.

Both the FDA and Soliman encourage parents to talk to their children about the risks of seemingly “stupid” social media challenges. Although they may start out as a joke, they can have serious health consequences.