School warns parents about ‘dangerous’ Doritos Roulette crisps after 14-year-old Beth Laybourn suffered breathing difficulties after eating them

'I thought I was going to die,' says girl who ate spicy Doritos

A school has warned parents not to give their children “dangerous” spicy tortilla chips after one of its pupils complained the snack caused her breathing difficulties.



Beth Laybourn, 14, claimed she feared she was “going to die” after eating a pack of Doritos Roulette crisps.

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Her experience led George Pindar School in Scarborough to issue a warning to parents that the crisps could “cause severe distress”.

The snack carries a message on the packet which reads: “WARNING: Some of these chips are ultra spicy.”

Beth, who is asthmatic, was playing a Russian roulette-style game with her younger brother and a friend, taking it in turns to eat a crisp.

“At first it wasn’t that hot. We carried on going round and I started sweating and a moment later I felt my throat burning,” she told the Sun.

“I started retching and ran to the toilet and was sick. I had four mugs of milk and my throat still wouldn’t stop burning. I couldn’t breathe properly and I really thought I was going to die.

“I kept thinking that if it leads to a full-blown asthma attack I could die.”

She suffered a severe asthma attack at school a week later and staff sent out the warning.

In its July newsletter, under the heading “dangerous Doritos”, the school said: “Parents and carers, please be aware that the new Doritos Roulette crisps are not recommended for children.

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“The crisps contain extra hot chips and it has come to our attention that they can cause severe distress, particularly to those with sensitivities, allergies or breathing problems.”

A description of the new product on the Doritos website adds “one chip in every handful is so spicy it may bring you to tears”.

The paper quoted a spokesman for the firm as saying: “We were sorry to hear about what happened. We do warn people to expect a seriously spicy experience with Doritos Roulette and we make this clear on the pack and in adverts.”