In Australia, doctors from a children’s hospital are advising parents to be vigilant about kids trying the new TikTok trend inspired by Netflix’s hit show Squid Game.
Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama television series on Netflix created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, who wrote and directed all nine episodes. The series revolves around a contest where 456 players in deep financial debt put their lives at risk to play a series of children’s games for the chance to win $38 billion.
The participants have to go through a series of six childhood games to have a shot at the ultimate cash prize, if they fail, then they die.
Now, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney is warning parents about the challenge, which involves making honeycomb and trying to carve a shape into it without breaking it.
The hospital issued a statement saying three children were admitted with severe burns from the Squid Game-inspired cooking challenges seen on TikTok.
While it seems innocent, young children are being injured from the boiling sugar, suffering from mild scalds to severe burns and nerve damage.
Aiden Higgie, 14, was one of the three children admitted in the last month altering suffering third-degree burns on his legs during an attempt at the challenge. He had melted sugar in a non-microwave safe cup, which then exploded and spilled on him.
“A lot of kids his age are watching Squid Game,” Helena Higgie, Aiden’s mother told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s very popular and Aiden was trying to recreate the honeycomb with the imprint on it, he looked it up on TikTok on how to create it.”
Helena said her son used water, bicarb of soda, and sugar and used a plastic cup, adding that while a lot of the cups at their house are microwavable, some aren’t, and “kids really can’t tell the difference”.
Helena said she was in another room while this was happening, and that the cup “exploded”. It boiled up to a ridiculous temperature, and when he took the cup out it exploded in his hand.
“It has burnt his hand, and because it was sugar and plastic melted together, it has run down his leg from his knee down to his shin and it stuck and kept on burning and burning and burning,” Helena said. “It was like toffee and burnt right through to the nerves.”
Aiden suffered first-degree burns to his hand and deep burns and nerve damage to his leg, which were so severe doctors feared he would need a skin graft. The burns are healing well on their own but Aiden will spend the next year in a pressure bandage.
“It’s shocking that such a simple act, like making honeycomb, could have such serious consequences,” Helena said.
Dr Erik La Hei, Acting Head of the hospital’s Burns Unit, said honeycomb could be dangerous because of the high temperature at which its sugar melts.
“The honeycomb toffee mix is both hotter and stickier,” the doctor said. “If the mixture is spilled or handled while it’s still hot, the greater heat and longer contact times cause deeper, more serious burns.”
“We don’t want to discourage teenagers from cooking, it is a fun activity,” he said. “But we do want to ensure they do this safely, especially when handling hot liquids. This means cooking with either the supervision or help, of an adult.”
If a child is burnt, the burn should be placed under cool running water for 20 minutes. Any clothing or jewelry should be removed. If the burn is bigger than a 20-cent piece, or parents have concerns, they should seek medical help.
Over the past month, Google searches for “honeycomb recipe” and “honeycomb challenge” have spiked across the world, particularly in Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.
The hospital warned parents to remain vigilant as reports of Squid Game-inspired injuries soar across the world.
All three children were burned while melting hot sugar and transferring it to baking paper. The injuries ranged from mild scalds to nerve damage, with the other two children also requiring ongoing treatment.