If you've been on Twitter, Facebook or the ice cream aisle of your local grocery store, you've probably heard of the ice cream challenge. This trend-turned-crime originated with a Twitter video posted by a girl taking a tub of Bluebell ice cream and licking it from one end to the other, captioning the evidence with the words, "...You can call it Flu Bell ice cream now 'cause I was a lil sick last week...Let's see if we can start an epidemic (literally)." Unlike other challenges, this one, in particular, poses some deadly consequences apart from being just plain unhygienic.
While the girl faced up to 20 years in prison, Twitter took to debate. Some were very happy with the charges and stated how her actions could have lead to someone's death. Other criticized the thought of such a harsh sentence, pointing out the ineffectiveness of incarceration in America. Maybe the online backlash was punishment enough and she should learn compassion through community service instead. Either way, the young woman has been identified as a minor, so we all are unsure of how the case will proceed. This whole situation raises the questions of how harsh is too harsh and how old does one have to be held fully responsible for the repercussions of their actions?
Those in favor of a severe sentence had the lives of the immunocompromised in mind. A simple infection, such as influenza, which the girl stated she was afflicted with the week before, could create innumerable complications. While for you and I, a vaccine will invoke a better immune response in the future, many cannot even receive vaccines due to the risk it may cause a life-threatening disease now. So, being exposed to a disease they aren't vaccinated for will cause that same deadly effect.
In the same vein, proponents of the Anti-Vax movement harm a population that parents don't realize. They are putting the lives of those who are too young or the immunocompromised at risk on the basis of pseudoscience at best.
Several Twitter users also mentioned the Tylenol Murders of 1982. PBS reported on some seemingly unrelated deaths in Illinois that started cropping up until investigators realized the common denominator of the victims; consuming Tylenol pain tablets. They were later found to be laced with cyanide. Even though this is an extreme case of comparison, tampering with products can lead to impacts as harsh as death. This very case is the reason she faces such harsh charges as it made tampering a federal offense.
Bluebell addressed concerns by letting consumers know that their famous half-gallon cartons seal with the ice cream itself as the temperature creates it naturally and "any attempt at opening the product should be noticeable." So next time you have a craving for Rocky Road or Superman ice cream, double-check that seal and thank God that your Mom raised you right.
