NEW YORK - A tortilla chip company that challenged consumers to eat a single chip dusted with two of the hottest peppers in the world is pulling the product from retail shelves.

The company announced the move on Thursday following the death of a teenager, whose family said he died after consuming the chip.

“The Paqui One Chip Challenge is intended for adults only, with clear and prominent labelling highlighting the chip is not for children” or other sensitive groups, the company, a subsidiary of Hershey Co, said in a statement on its website.

“We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings.”

As a result, the company said, it was working with retailers to remove the product from shelves, “out of an abundance of caution”.

Paqui also said it would offer refunds for the product, which was priced at about US$9.99 (S$14) for a single serving. Paqui chips are made by Amplify Snack Brands, which Hershey bought for about US$1.6 billion in 2017.

The chips come in a coffin-shaped box with a label that dared customers to wait as long as possible before eating or drinking anything after consuming the chip, and then to post their reactions on social media.

This year’s challenge produced many videos showing people begging for water or milk or putting huge portions of ice cream into their mouths after eating the chip.

The chip involved in the challenge comes dusted with Carolina Reaper, a type of red pepper. It has been measured at over 2 million Scoville heat units, the scale used to measure how hot peppers are.

The chip is also dusted with Naga Viper, a type of hot chilli pepper. Naga Viper has been measured at just under 1.4 million Scoville units.

Jalapeno peppers are typically rated at between 2,000 and 8,000 units.

The chip was one of the last things 14-year-old Harris Wolobah ate before he died, his family said.

His mother, Mrs Lois Wolobah, said her son’s school in Worcester, Massachusetts, called on Sept 1 to tell her that he was sick. When she arrived at the school, Harris was doubled over with stomach pains.

About two hours later, he was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.

The cause of his death was not immediately clear, but Mrs Wolobah told The New York Times that she believed the chip had something to do with his death.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said it would take up to 12 weeks before autopsy results were available.

“I just want there to be an awareness for parents to know that it’s not safe,” Mrs Wolobah said in an interview this week.

Several people who tried the chip told The New York Times that they experienced painful stomach aches after eating the chip.

Paqui spokesman Kim Metcalfe said the company was “deeply saddened” by Harris’ death.

“We care about all of our consumers and have made the decision to remove the product from shelves,” she said in a statement.

“The product’s label clearly states it is not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods or who has food allergies, is pregnant or has underlying health conditions.”

Ms Metcalfe emphasised that the removal of the chip was not a recall but, rather, a “voluntary retrieval”.

Until Tuesday, marketing materials for the challenge asked participants, “How long can you last before you spiral out?”, and gave special rankings depending on how long they could hold off drinking something for relief.

By Thursday, all that remained on the challenge’s website was the company’s new statement, the original warning label and a shortened FAQ.

It was not immediately clear how many of the One Chip Challenge packages had been sold since the latest flavour was released in August.

A local CBS affiliate in Boston said on Wednesday that it had found the chip at a grocery store about 10 minutes from Harris’ school. NYTIMES