"Shell On Challenge" Latest Dumb Food Stunt Health Officials Warn Teens Against

We rolled our eyes when our parents asked "Well, if all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?" But I now find myself wondering whether the next Snapchat trend won't be the "Jump Off A Cliff Challenge." This week, the latest dumbshit food challenge making the rounds on teens' social media feeds, especially Snapchat, is the "Shell On Challenge," which sounds like it would involve eating shell-on shrimp, but is in fact infinitely more stupid.

The "challenge" is to eat a food with its packaging still on or with its rind still attached. ABC Action News cites the following examples: a sandwich in a zip-close bag, baby carrots still in their plastic bag, a lemon with rind. Health officials who spoke to ABC say it is not wise to eat the rind or skin of a food without washing it, but that swallowing plastic or other packaging is a much more grave concern due to the choking hazards they pose.

Cue the alarmist local news stories, a choice example of which—courtesy of WXYZ-TV in Detroit—opens with this truly magnificent intro: "Internet challenges are one of the quickest ways to become famous, or to end up permanently disfigured or even dead." Also, WHAT'S LURKING IN YOUR TAP WATER? MORE AT 11.

Teens, this challenge is massively unsafe and dumb. Flimsy bits of plastic could easily get trapped over your windpipe or get stuck in your digestive system. I know you need a new activity to occupy you're time since you're no longer hiding overnight in Chuck E. Cheese's or snorting chocolate, but can we please turn our attention to something more productive? I propose a new Snapchat game: The "Click On Every Takeout Story In The Archives Challenge." Hey, we may as well harness teens' boredom for clicks, right?