Another day, another problematic challenge making the rounds on social media. This time, it’s the food-centric “Shell On Challenge,” which apparently entails young people across the globe consuming food that hasn’t been peeled or unwrapped. In other words, these teens and twentysomethings are eating food that’s still in its packaging.
In some examples of the “Shell On Challenge” shared on social media, participants have filmed themselves eating things such as candy wrappers and peels or rinds found on various fruits and vegetables. According to USA Today, a high school sophomore in Arizona even participated in the challenge by biting through (and eating) a plastic bag of carrots, which his friends captured on Snapchat.
In an Instagram video shared with “#ShellOnChallenge,” a young girl is shown taking a bite out a banana, with the peel still covering the fruit. She proceeds to spit it out almost immediately, presumably because it didn’t taste very good.
While there isn’t much harm in eating a whole fruit or vegetable (including those that are traditionally meant to be peeled prior to consumption), medical professionals aren’t exactly thrilled that today’s youths are chomping down on plastic, foil and other packaging materials.
As Chicago-area physician Max Plitt recently told the New York Post, eating plastic “can be dangerous.” He added: “BPA has been suggested to influence hormones. Chemicals in PVC like vinyl chloride have been linked to cancers.”
Thankfully, it doesn’t seem as though the “Shell On Challenge” has been as successful as say, the “Bird Box Challenge” or the “Tide Pod Challenge” before it, which required completing tasks while blindfolded and eating laundry detergent, respectively.
In fact, the “Shell On Challenge” appears to have more naysayers than fans. “What’s the prestige in announcing that you ate plastic?” asked one Twitter user. “Where does the stupidly end?” Added another: “The shell on challenge is SO DUMB.”
