Middle schoolers ill after reportedly ingesting chili powder candy

Ten students at McLoughlin Middle School in Vancouver got sick Wednesday morning after eating a spicy Mexican candy at school.

The call was coded by dispatchers as an “intentional overdose” around 10:30 a.m.

A school nurse was not in the building when a student began vomiting, so school staff called 911, according to Pat Nuzzo, spokeswoman for Vancouver Public Schools. In total, seven boys and three girls between the ages of 11 and 13 got sick.

Rescue personnel rushed to the school, 5802 MacArthur Blvd., and had several ambulances standing by. Paramedics evaluated and monitored the students before they were picked up by their parents, Nuzzo said. Two children were transported by ambulance because their parents were unavailable.

Vancouver police were initially called to the scene but quickly learned that there were no narcotics or prescription drugs involved, according to emergency radio traffic.

“It’s nothing we’re serving at school. It’s something somebody brought in,” said Principal Travis Boeh. “The kids described it as candy.”

More specifically, it was Jovy Acirrico Fire Chili with Lemon, a spicy Mexican candy. The candy is a mixture of chili powder, salt and lemon flavoring, said Dr. Jack Stump, an emergency department physician at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center who treated five of the children.

One child had a bottle of the candy, which can be purchased at grocery stores, and poured small piles of the powder into the palms of several classmates. The kids swallowed the powder and then experienced nausea and abdominal pain, Stump said.

One child vomited after ingesting the powder. The others’ symptoms later subsided, and all of the kids are going to be OK, Stump said.

McLoughlin Middle School sent a letter home with students describing what happened and said the incident will be looked into further.

Powders problematic

Ingesting powders in such a way is problematic for several reasons, Stump said.

“The first concern is you don’t know what powder is being poured into your hand,” he said. “That’s what happened today.”

Stump stresses to kids that they should only eat things approved by their parents and only in the manner they should be consumed.

If the powder was accidentally inhaled while trying to swallow, it could cause an airway reaction and choking, Stump said. In addition, the chili powder can trigger mouth and stomach irritation and cause a burning sensation, he said.

Oftentimes, kids don’t consider the risks associated with succumbing to challenges or dares from their peers, Stump said. And the Internet helps turn the stunts into popular fads, he said.

“Almost always, these are bad ideas,” Stump said.

The kids who consumed the chili powder candy Wednesday seemed to have learned that lesson the hard way.

“Every one of them I saw today said, ‘I am never going to do that again,'” Stump said.