When it comes to marinating chicken there are a number of options you can choose for the marinade. Beer, lemon juice, yogurt, pickle juice, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar…you name it, you can probably use it as a marinade.
What you shouldn’t use to marinate your chicken? NyQuil.
Because NyQuil? NyQuil doesn’t belong on chicken. Which, you would think, is just common sense. NyQuil is for colds and flu. Not chicken. And yet, some people seem to think otherwise.
What.The.Cluck?
The FDA just released a warning that cooking your chicken in NyQuil and other cough medicines is a recipe for disaster and can be harmful to your health.
*opens the internet*
FDA Warns: Don't cook chicken in NyQuil
*closes the internet*
— Xen ? (@MrXenTV) September 20, 2022
Apparently thanks to the joy that is social media, there’s a TikTok challenge encouraging people to cook their chicken with cough and cold medicine. I kid you not.
The FDA warning reads:
“A recent social media video challenge encourages people to cook chicken in NyQuil (acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, and doxylamine) or another similar OTC cough and cold medication, presumably to eat.”
In the videos, which have been around for months, people pour large amounts of liquid medication over chicken breasts and fry them up.
Take a look for yourself:
FDA issued warning of TikTok challenge that encourages people to cook chicken in NyQuil pic.twitter.com/ahTtA8ETsm
— DomisLive NEWS (@domislivenews) September 20, 2022
The FDA goes on to warn that doing so could be hazardous to your health, which, seems obvious, and yet, here we are:
“The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is. But it could also be very unsafe.
Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs.
Put simply: Someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.”
Don’t dose your dinner. It’s a BAD IDEA.
NyQuil chicken. ???? pic.twitter.com/vkpmd9cpdh
— Paul ? (@HeathenOnEarth_) September 20, 2022
The FDA noted the social media trend relied on “peer pressure” with “online video clips of people misusing nonprescription medications and encouraging viewers to do so too.”
Additionally, the FDA stated:
“These video challenges, which often target youths, can harm people — and even cause death.”
Overdosing on NyQuil and other OTC cough and cold medications can lead to dangerous side effects, including:
- High blood pressure
- Rapid heart rate
- Dilated pupils
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of coordination
- Slurred speech
- Dizziness
- Hallucinations
- Seizures
- Coma
It can also cause liver & lung damage and can be potentially fatal.
NyQuil and other cold and flu medications contain a cough suppressant known as dextromethorphan which can be addictive.
Taking DXM-containing drugs to get a “cheap high” has become extremely popular among teens in the US. It’s known on the street as “Robo-tripping,” “skittling,” or “dexing.”
In 2015, there were 1,379 deaths from DXM overdoses in the United States.
This isn’t the first time the FDA has had to address social media challenges involving over-the-counter medications.
The agency also mentioned an earlier completely moronic TikTok challenge that urged people to take large doses of the allergy medicine, diphenhydramine (aka Benadryl), to try to induce hallucinations.
“Prompted by news reports of teenagers needing to go to the emergency room or, in some cases, dying after participating in this challenge and taking too much medication, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned the public about the danger of high doses of diphenhydramine.”
The reality is that as much as we know that eating tide pods, chugging Benadryl, and cooking chicken in NyQuil is wrong, our teens are still doing it. Blame it on the fact that their brains are not fully developed. Their prefrontal cortex – the rational part of the brain – is still developing.
And lord have mercy on them.
Obviously, kids doing stupid challenges that could potentially cause serious harm is no laughing matter. But what will have you laughing are these tweets about “NyQuil Chicken.” Because come on, the jokes pretty much write themselves.
Why'd they call it nyquil chicken and not robitusserie
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) September 20, 2022
Or acetamino-hen.
What’s that saying about “survival of the fittest?”
Honestly, if you have to be told this, you should go ahead and eat the NyQuil marinated chicken https://t.co/xPPambpaz1
— TheBlackSavageOne ?? (@DarkSavage1) September 20, 2022
So much for the evolution of the human species.
Ok, so the FDA issued a warning not to cook chicken in NyQuil? All the work done by our ancestors just to get us to this point and we’ve got motherfuckers out there cooking chickens in NyQuil.
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) September 21, 2022
“medieval people were gullible and superstitious” the CDC just told us not to cook chicken in NyQuil
— ?Dr. Frizzle (@Swilua) September 21, 2022
Even the Dictionary couldn’t help weighing in:
1. Please don't make us add "NyQuil chicken" to the dictionary.
2. Please don't cook your chicken with NyQuil. https://t.co/JDGe898C7V
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) September 20, 2022
You might want to try adding some spices instead.
This is why America needs immigrants and people of color. Y'all are putting Nyquil on your chicken because you don't know about spices. Help us help you. Help us make your chicken delicious. You won't even get sleepy or dead, just a food coma.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) September 20, 2022
In all seriousness, when it comes to marinating chicken in NyQuil, DON’T DO IT. The night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so- you- can-rest medicine – is for colds, not cooking.