'Cinnamon Challenge' can be Dangerous: Pediatricians

Doctors have now cautioned children and teens against accepting the "cinnamon challenge" - a popular dare where kids need to swallow a teaspoon of cinnamon powder without drinking any water.

The dare can cause suffocation, asthma attacks and lung damage. The latest report on the cinnamon challenge is published in the journal Pediatrics.

A similar warning was issued last month by The American Association of Poison Control Centers which said that dry cinnamon powder can coat the throat and mouth, causing dryness, itching, coughing and gagging. The effects of swallowing the powder are much more severe for teens who already suffer from asthma or other respiratory conditions.

"What we were discovering was that it wasn't just that this was a dare prompted by peer pressure, but in fact there were acute health issues associated with it and there might be some real concerns for more chronic health issues," Dr. Steven Lipshultz, from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a co-author of the study, told Reuters Health.

In the year 2011, about 51 calls about teen exposure to the spice cinnamon were received by poison centers in the country. However, in just the first three months of 2012, some 139 reports of cinnamon exposure, of which 122 were intentional, were received by the agency. At least 30 kids had received medical intervention post-exposure, according to American Association of Poison Control Center's National Poison Data System.

The report in Pediatrics also said that the cellulose in cinnamon powder doesn't break down and coats the surface of the throat and mouth. Also, oil in the powder causes an allergic reaction in some people, reports USA Today.

Cinnamon tastes hot and creates a desire for drinking water because of the presence of essential oils that irritate the nerve endings of the taste buds. The mouth can't produce enough saliva to dissolve the powder and it ends up as "cinnamud", which can cause blisters, mouth sores and suffocation.