4-Year-Old Boy Dies After Accidentally Ingesting This Common Kitchen Spice

Brianna Radar is grieving the loss of her completely healthy 4-year-old son, Matthew, who got ahold of cinnamon in the kitchen and died due to asphyxiation. Matthew got up on the stove, found the powdered spice, and decided to eat some of it — little did he know that he was inadvertently engaging in what the Internet has dubbed "The Cinnamon Challenge." Now his mother wants everyone to know that cinnamon can kill.

When she found Matthew, he was choking, so she rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later. The problem with cinnamon is that if too much is ingested, your body's reflexes kick in, making you cough — but if you breathe in too quickly, the powder can make its way into your lungs and cause spasms.

Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center of Nationwide Children's Hospital, told Yahoo Parenting: "I don't think people understand that, hey, a small amount is great for baking or sprinkling on your hot chocolate, but as we've seen in these 'cinnamon challenge' videos, it's very irritating. . . . We don't want people to take this lightly."