The newest craze among teens is the “cinnamon challenge,” involving the swallowing of a tablespoon of cinnamon in a minute without water and videotaping the effects. The stunt causes teens to spew out a cloud of orange dust. This resulted in 50,000 YouTube video clips of young people attempting the “cinnamon challenge.”

The immediate physical effects are coughing, choking and burning of the mouth, nose and throat which are temporary. Attempts in swallowing a large amount of the dry spice can result in “long-lasting lesions, scarring and inflammation of the airway” or even lung damage, according to a new research paper that examined the stunt.

In animals, studies show that exposure to cinnamon inhalation results in the lungs immediately becoming inflamed and signs of damage for weeks, even months later.

The “cinnamon challenge” is not the fad that it was a year ago, but new videos posted online suggest that interest has not been lost.

Junior Jasmine Quinn said, “When I watched the cinnamon challenge for the first time, I thought it was really funny. I did not consider the consequences of the cinnamon challenge, but when I realized how bad it affected your body, it was not funny.”

Not all students are interested in attempting the cinnamon challenge. Many consider the effects and see through the antics of the stunt.

Junior Maria Cashdollar said, “I would never want to do the cinnamon challenge because it has such a negative effect on your body.”

Sophomore Jenna Masu-Lee agreed. “The cinnamon challenge looks really entertaining when you watch it on video, but the effects of the challenge itself don’t make it fun to watch. I hope teens do not attempt to do this challenge because it is like an accident waiting to happen.”