Warning about “NyQuil chicken” leads to spike in searches about it

Call it the law of unintended consequences at play: The FDA’s new warning about not cooking chicken in NyQuil caused a spike in searches about it. 

The revolting “Sleepytime Chicken” recipe, which began as a joke on 4Chan, had just four searches on TikTok before the FDA issued its warning, a spokesperson for the social media app tells BuzzFeed News, but by Wednesday, the searches spiked to 1,400. 

The FDA warned about the dangers of following through on online trends. Also, the agency stated cooking with the medicine could release potentially harmful vapors, and consuming the green-tinged chicken could be hazardous.

Duh.

For the record, despite the media frenzy that was sparked by the FDA warning, BuzzFeed notes NyQuil chicken hasn’t resulted in any deaths or illnesses.