It may be one of the sweeter spices but taking the “cinnamon challenge” is leaving foolhardy participants gagging, choking and gasping for air and, even worse, putting themselves at risk of developing serious lung infections.

But the fad is going viral, leading to a dramatic spike in calls to poison control agencies in Canada and the U.S. and a rare warning this week about the dangers of trying to swallow a spoonful of powdered cinnamon.

More than 30,000 YouTube videos show uncomfortable teens choking, spitting and fumbling for a glass of water.

But the real danger, says Kim Sheppard, clinical leader of the Izaak Walton Killam Regional Poison Centre in Halifax, is breathing the spice into your lungs.

“You could certainly get quite sick with this,” Sheppard said.

Lung inflammation caused by the cinnamon can lead to pneumonia, which requires medical treatment, including antibiotics, Sheppard said. “Certainly, people that have respiratory problems already, like asthma, are at even greater risk.”

The American Association of Poison Control Centres reported 139 phone calls about teen cinnamon use in the first three months of 2012 — 122 about intentional misuse or abuse — compared to 51 calls in all of 2011.

The spike is “likely related to the cinnamon challenge,” the centres say. “What may seem like a silly game can have serious health consequences.”

The Ontario Poison Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children received six calls in the past year — four of those in the last month — but spokeswoman Margaret Thompson says the problem in Ontario may be under-reported.

“It may be that (ingesting cinnamon) is not really perceived as a poisoning so people aren’t calling us,” Thompson said.

In Halifax, Sheppard’s centre has received two calls recently.

“Unfortunately with things like this that go viral on the Internet, so many accept the challenge,” said Sheppard, whose centre in Halifax has received two phone calls recently.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: