Don’t cook chicken in cough medicine — FDA

Cooking chicken in cough medicine Nyquil is not only silly and unappetising but can also be very unsafe, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said after the “sleepy chicken” Tiktok challenge.

A number of videos challenged people to cook chicken in Nyquil, which contains acetaminophen, dextromethorphan and doxylamine, or another similar over-the-counter cough and cold medication, according to the FDA.

Boiling medicine could make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways, the FDA said in a notice.

“Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapours while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs.”

This is not the first time the FDA has warned against social media challenges that use nonprescription medicine.

In September 2020, a similar warning was issued by the FDA after reports of teenagers being admitted to emergency rooms or dying after participating in the “Benadryl Challenge” on the short-video app.