Chips trick
Studies claim that snack chips are health risks due to their high sodium content that can damage the kidneys and liver. Such products can also be dangerous for other reasons.
Last April, the maker of Trader Joe’s Restaurant Style White Corn Tortilla Chips recalled nine-ounce packages of the snack sold in several US states as those products might contain undeclared milk allergen. The ingredient can harm consumers allergic to milk by blocking their breathing.
Snak King Corporation of City Industry also advised consumers who bought the snacks marked with “sell by August 2021” not to eat them and return them to the seller for a refund.
In another bizarre case, it was shown that tortilla chips have bad effects not related to health.
When the Coronado High School basketball team beat Orange Glen High School, 60-57, in overtime to win the 2021 Southern California Boys Basketball Division 4-A Regional Championship last 19 June, the emotional game ended with a heated exchange between coaches from both sides. Coronado students then joined the fray by throwing tortillas toward Orange Glen players. As to who provoked whom, there were conflicting testimonies from witnesses.
At the receiving end of the tortilla “attack” were mostly Latinos, who regarded it as insulting. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs the game, found the incident racist. The CIF later stripped the Coronado team of its championship title. It also slapped the school with other sanctions.
Coronado was banned from hosting post-season games, was placed under probation status until 2024, and its athletic officials and athletes ordered to undergo racial sensitivity and sportsmanship training to prevent a repeat of the incident.
In the aftermath of the sanctions, Coronado’s Unified school board fired basketball coach JD Laaperi on 24 June. Ironically, Laaperi agreed that the tortilla tossing was racist, but was not aware that someone brought and distributed the chips during the game.
Coronado alumnus Luke Serna admitted bringing and giving packs of tortillas to the players, but it was for celebratory purpose and he had no racist intention. There were differing opinions on the incident.
Meanwhile, snack chips somehow restored their good reputation after the tortilla controversies. A New York Police Department officer responded to a stabbing incident in Harlem last 7 July. The victim suffered a gaping wound and told Officer Rodney Kennedy that his lung was hit.
Kennedy directed one man to get a bag of chips and tape as he and another man laid the victim on the sidewalk. He then emptied the potato chips bag and taped it over the man’s wound to prevent his chest cavity from filling with air while waiting for paramedics, Fox News reported.
When the paramedics arrived, they changed the improvised gauze to a better seal and brought the stabbing victim to the Harlem Hospital. The victim survived because of Kennedy’s smart first aid, the attending physician said.