Cooking chicken in NyQuil is dangerous, FDA says, citing a video posted on TikTok

The Food and Drug Administration has issued an update advising consumers that cooking chicken in NyQuil is dangerous and potentially harmful.

The warning, part of a broader FDA update published Thursday about “social media challenges,” references a video that a TikTok user posted at least a year ago that shows him frying two chicken breasts in the cold and flu medicine. In the video, which went viral but appears to have been taken down, the user flips the meat with a flat iron hair straightener.

“The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is. But it could also be very unsafe. Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways,” the FDA said.

The TikTok video does not use the word “challenge,” and it is unclear whether many people ever attempted to cook chicken in NyQuil.

The FDA statement caused NyQuil to trend on Twitter Tuesday.

The FDA said that even if a person does not eat the chicken, cooking it in the over-the-counter medicine could cause them to inhale high levels of the drug’s vapors.

“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,” the FDA said.