Warning to parents as bizarre new Tik Tok trend sees kids drink nothing but food colouring 'to turn their urine blue'
Tik Tok has become a fast growing social media sensation - but some users are taking it a little too far.
The social media app, similar to the once popular Vine, allows users to make short videos to share with a growing audience, which can be musical, educational, humorous, or just plain dangerous - as the latest trend has proved.
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Food colouring only
A new Tik Tok trend that is currently a popular craze sees teens only consuming food colouring.
Tik Tok user @Coltyy has been drinking blue food colouring for 10 days straight, in a bizarre attempt to see if it turns his urine blue.
In his first video, he explained: “I’ll be drinking blue food colouring, and only blue food colouring.
"From what I’ve read online, by the fifth day the colour of my pee will be blue."
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@coltyyIt’s blue face baby! 🤪🔵 Day 11 of drinking blue food coloring! 😂 ( It’s harmless) slampson #fyp #foryou♬ Hombre Religioso (Religious Man) - Mr. Loco
It turns out that @Coltyy has had his wishes granted, with a little more than he expected.
He claims that drinking the food colouring has also turned his skin, hair, and even his poo blue too.
Unhealthy effects
Despite @coltyy claiming that the practice is "harmless", TikTok has since marked the videos as potentially unsafe and a warning message now appears on the video stating: “The action in this video could result in injury.”
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Several other teens have followed suit and are attempting the challenge, including one user who is using green food colouring.
While food colouring is usually harmless in small doses, the NHS, as well as many scientific journals, have linked it with increased symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADHD).
There are also tenuous links of food colouring also being carcinogenic.
What is TikTok?
TikTok has also hit headlines recently after kids were creating fires by sparking coins against live smartphone chargers.
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But, described as a short-video sharing social media site used mainly by teenagers, the app is mostly used for lip-syncing, creating music videos, and often pranking unsuspecting parents.
In 2017, TikTok's parent company ByteDance bought lip-syncing the then popular app Musical.ly for $1 billion and converted everyone's accounts to TikTok.
Most users enjoy TikTok as a source of entertainment and a way to connect to the wider world.
But, parents are advised to ensure their children are using apps and smartphones safely and make sure they are aware of the risks of trending stunts such as @Coltyy and his obsession with blue food colouring.