My daughter suffered agonising burns after making ‘prison napalm’ in the microwave during a dangerous TikTok challenge

A mother has described how her daughter suffered painful burns after accidentally making ‘prison napalm’ in the microwave while trying to follow a TikTok recipe for Chinese candied fruit snack Tanghulu.

Emma-Louise Owen claims the food challenge spotted on TikTok could have scarred her daughter for life.

She is warning other parents about the dangers of the ‘Tanghulu Challenge’ after her 12-year-old daughter Sophie-Rosie suffered burns from the craze.

It involves heating sugar and water to make a sugar syrup, which is then glazed over fruit skewers before plunging into cold water to create a hard, crunchy surface.

But it resulted in a mixture of boiling water and sugar known as “prison napalm,” which is often used as a weapon by prisoners.

The deadly fluid sticks to the skin and worsens burns, one of the main effects of jelly-like napalm bombs.

According to the National Library of Medicine, attacks with “prison napalm” will cause more severe burns than using plain water and incidents can be “potentially devastating.”

Ms Owen said her daughter asked her last month if she could do the Tanghulu challenge after noticing the trend on TikTok.

The 34-year-old agreed, having seen the trend on other social media platforms and warned Sophie to be careful, but soon heard a piercing scream coming from the kitchen.

Mrs Owen, who lives in Cardiff, Wales, said her daughter had heated the syrup in the microwave with a plastic container, but the boiling hot sauce had melted through the container onto Sophie’s foot and hand.

The mother-of-two immersed Sophie’s foot and hand in cold water and noticed huge blisters appearing on the child’s skin.

Worried, Emma rushed Sophie to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where doctors told the family they were ‘lucky’ the burns were not more serious.

Insurance manager Mrs Owen is grateful her daughter was not blinded by the scalding hot liquid and is warning other parents about the viral craze.

TikTok said Tanghulu is a popular Asian version of a sugar syrup-based sweet treat and that recipes had been circulating online before their platform.

The social media giant claimed that making Tanghulu is no more dangerous than cooking other foods at high temperatures, but said their platform was only for children aged 13 and over.

Mrs Owen said: ‘Sophie had seen this new trend on TikTok – all her friends were doing it.

‘I’d seen it on social media, celebrities had done it and it looked good. I knew it was a new trend that had people looking around.

“She approached me on Friday evening and asked if she could do this Tanghulu trend. I said no, you’re not using the oven. But she said there is a video that shows you can microwave it.

“At that point my mom called me, so I said yes, you can put it in the microwave, just be careful. I didn’t understand the actual context of it and I feel like a terrible parent.

‘She put the sugar and water in a plastic microwave jug for two minutes and as she took it out the syrup had burned through the bottom of the jug, dripping onto her hand and foot.

‘There was a trail of syrup on the floor in the kitchen. She screamed ‘burn, burn, burn’ and I said ‘put your hand in cold water’. Then a huge blister immediately formed on her foot.

‘I grabbed a bucket and put her foot in it with cold water while I held her hand under the tap. My husband came downstairs and I told him she did this trend with sugar water and his face just sank.

“He said they use this in prisons to scar people. Her foot is just swollen. She had one large bump and then small burn marks where it had splashed on her foot.

‘She had a blister on the palm of her hand and a large bump on her index finger. She had calmed down, but every now and then she would be in pain and collapse.”

After calling 911, Mrs Owen rushed her daughter to hospital, where burn specialists had to pop the multiple blisters that had appeared on Sophie’s hand and foot.

The family were told Sophie’s injuries – which left several scars – could have been ‘much worse’.

She said: ‘We were told it could have been a lot worse. Because we acted so quickly and kept it under water for so long, we more or less killed the burns.

‘It could have easily splashed in her face and she would have had scars all over her face or gone blind. She now has scars from it.

‘There are no disclaimers on social media about this challenge, such as watching out for splats and making sure an adult is with you.

‘Children just absorb everything online. This could have been so much worse. I wanted to alert other parents to the dangers of this. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else’s child.

‘You can’t keep an eye on your children 24/7, but just stay informed about what they are doing.’

A TikTok spokesperson explained that candied fruit recipes have been on the internet for years before their platform, including on cooking shows and popular recipe platforms.

They explained that Tanghulu is a popular Asian version of a sugar syrup-based sweet treat and claimed that making it is no more dangerous than cooking other foods at high temperatures.

The spokesperson emphasized that cooking and recipe videos are welcome on TikTok, but emphasized that it is exclusively a 13+ platform.

To prevent people from using the platform if they are not yet old enough, TikTok claimed that they have designed a neutral, industry-standard age limit that requires people to enter their full date of birth rather than letting them select whether they are. younger or older than 13 years.

They claimed this would discourage children from lying about their age.