Raw roti dough challenge in Thailand
Images adapted from: Line, Nane Game Channel
Thai netizens have been baffled by a new, weird trend that has been circulating amongst Thai youngsters: the “eating raw roti dough” challenge. Yep, you read that right.
Doesn’t this look appetising? Not.
Images adapted from: Line
Videos on the social media platform, TikTok, has surfaced online and shown Thai youth eating uncooked dough with condensed milk and melted butter.
Normally, Thais eat roti as dessert. We fry the dough in oil or butter until it turns golden and crisp. Then we would put on delicious toppings like condensed milk, sugar, and chocolate sauce for extra deliciousness.
Raw dough poses a serious health risk as it can contain harmful bacteria in uncooked flour and eggs.
Images adapted from: Nane Game Channel
It goes without saying that a lot of netizens were gasping in disbelief and didn’t hesitate to fire back at this silly trend. Some even called this ‘natural selection’ – ouch!
Translation: How far do people go for attention? Geez, have they lost their brain?
Translation: Let natural selection runs its course.
Translation: I saw this in my neighbourhood. The seller told me it’s not good to eat the dough uncooked.
Woman apologised for being the trendsetter
Image credit: TikTok
This week, TikTok user Lookketfortune, who has amassed more than 500K followers on the platform, posted an apology video because she believes she was the one who started this trend.
In the video, she stated that she only wanted to try raw roti dough out of curiosity and didn’t think her followers would make it into the trend it is today.
Thai Public Health issued a warning
On 3rd January 2020, Thai Public Health posted a PSA in the form of a comic on their Facebook page to raise awareness of this scary trend.
The caption in the photo read: “You shouldn’t eat food that’s meant to be cooked raw!” This was followed by the potential health risks, like digestion problems and food poisoning, if one were to consume uncooked dough.
Image credit: กรมอนามัย
Roti dough consists of flour, egg, butter, condensed milk and is kept overnight, often in the fridge. During this time, the dough might develop bacteria that can harm your body, and this can be easily prevented by cooking it.
It’s a no brainer that we should only consume cooked food items without other people, let alone the health department, telling us to do so.
And if the trend suggests otherwise…well, keep in mind that no one will be responsible for your own health but yourself.
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