Sep 23, 2022 3 min read

A different kind of weeknight recipe is making the rounds on TikTok.

#Sleepychicken videos trending on the social media platform challenge users to cook chicken in Nyquil, a stunt dating back to 2017, when a Twitter user named @tristan jokingly posted a photo of green chicken with the caption, “if she makes you nyquil chicken … do NOT let her go.”

The tweet was a joke. It circulated the Twittersphere, garnering more than 5,000 “likes,” but didn’t gain the notoriety. Now, a new generation of social media users have turned “sleepy chicken” into the latest viral, and potentially dangerous, trend.

This month, thousands of videos of chicken simmering in Nyquil have been liked and shared on TikTok.

Following reports of hospitalizations, the Food and Drug Administration earlier this week issued a statement warning the public not to cook chicken in Nyquil or similar over-the-counter medications.

“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,” the FDA said in a news release. “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.”

TikTok, too, has added a warning to #sleepychicken videos. Those searching the platform for challenge posts are redirected to the community guidelines page, which warns visitors that online challenges can be dangerous and fabricated.

“Content that promotes dangerous behavior has no place on TikTok. This is not trending on our platform, but we will remove content if found and strongly discourage anyone from engaging in behavior that may be harmful to themselves or others,” a TikTok spokesperson said in an email.

Proctor & Gamble, which owns Nyquil, has also decried the social media trend.

“Consumer safety is our number one priority, and we do not endorse any inappropriate use of our product. NyQuil is an over-the-counter medication that treats nighttime symptoms of the common cold and flu. It should only be taken as directed using the dosage cup provided … not to exceed (4) doses per 24 hours,” the company said in a statement to the Observer-Reporter.

Since reports of sleepy chicken’s health effects made headlines this week, some TikTok users have come out against the challenge. Videos using the same #sleepychicken hashtag discourage cooking chicken in medication.

One user, @thewyseguy, who has only about 350 TikTok follows, garnered more than 13,000 views on an anti-sleepy chicken video posted Wednesday. In the video, @thewyseguy talks over a sleepy chicken video, asking viewers, “What are you thinking?”

The current chicken challenge isn’t the first dangerous social media stunt tried and shared by TikTok and other social media platform users. In 2018, young adults participated in what was called the Tide Pod Challenge, where users claimed they got high on the laundry detergent squares.

Then, Proctor & Gamble, which also owns Tide, issued a statement about the harmful effects of ingesting detergent.

For more on the #sleepychicken challenge and how to talk to children about staying safe, visit https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/recipe-danger-social-media-challenges-involving-medicines.