The FDA recently released a warning about a TikTok "trend" featuring users cooking "NyQuil chicken," aka "sleepy chicken." On TikTok, most videos of people preparing this not-so-appetizing dish have been blocked, and the platform issued a statement in an effort to protect users from participating in the dangerous trend. 



Several informational videos have crawled the internet advising against this so-called “sleepy chicken” recipe which is now blocked on the platform. 



The FDA's warning about sleepy chicken misunderstands the trend and assumes that users are actually making the recipe and does not acknowledge that the trend is in fact a joke. In turn, the FDA helped promote the joke to a much larger audience. 


@glenndevar #greenscreen They fall for literally everything #tidepod #nyquil #genz #millennials #boomers ♬ original sound - Glenn DeVar


Some seem to be misinformed not on the harmful effects eating sleepy chicken could have, but instead on the gravity of the current situation that isn’t even a thing.


@just_john74 #greenscreen No words #nyquil #chicken #donteatit #nope #fyp @justjimmy73 ♬ original sound - John


@chellelitscheel Ya’ll cant be serious! #chicken #nyquil #millennial #whatishappening #trending #fyp #wtf ♬ original sound - Yasssssss


However, the FDA has made it clear that cooking chicken in NyQuil is still a health hazard. According to the FDA, cooking with cold medicine is still dangerous even if the food isn't consumed, noting that breathing in the cooked vapor is harmful to the lungs, joke or not. 


Doctors are concerned that if one were to eat sleepy chicken, this could mean potentially drinking as much as a half bottle’s worth of the liquid medicine without even realizing it. In turn, cooking chicken in sleeping aids releases higher concentrations of the drug, making the dosage way higher than needed.


@chrisndele

This got it

♬ original sound - Andy penn


Perhaps the concern stems from past deadly trends, like the “Benadryl Challenge,” where users consumed large amounts of antihistamine to get hallucinations, many ending up hospitalized.  


The FDA, though doing its job to advise people not to engage in stupid viral trends like these can rest assured because people aren’t actually eating NyQuil chicken. But if you are thinking about making your own recipe as a joke, just know that cooking with cold medicine can still be dangerous.