The Phenomenon Of Fried Tofu Challenge, Fear Of Being Branded Lack Of Gaul Even Though It Is Risky For Health

JAKARTA The challenge of eating tofu in hot conditions went viral on TikTok social media some time ago. This trend was later imitated by many people, which then raised concerns from health practitioners because it had many risks.

This hot tofu food challenge was first popularized by Chinese influencers. In his upload, he posted tofu cooked into hot oil in a pan. Not long after, tofu from a hot pan was taken using a dress andcocored at the sprinkle of chili powder. A moment that looks so enjoyed by the woman who uploads the video.

Although it looks quite terrible, it turns out that the challenge of fried tofu is widely imitated by content creators in Indonesia, one of which is Tanboy Kun, who often shares mukbang content with a spicy taste and a super large portion. Having more than one million followers on Instagram accounts, what a man with the real name Bara Ilham has definitely been an inspiration for its followers.

And sure enough, this fried tofu challenge suddenly went viral, imitated by many people from teenagers to mothers. The rise of this fried tofu challenge has caused polemics, both in terms of health and psychology.

Doctors agree that imitating the trend of scathing tofu challenges has health risks. Meanwhile, psychologists think people who like to follow trends are afraid of being labeled outdated.

The lecturer of the Faculty of Health (FIK) at the Faculty of Health (FIK) of Muhammadiyah University Surabaya (UM Surabaya) Dede Nasrullah responded to this trend of fried tofu. According to Dede, the food served is indeed more delicious, but one must pay attention to the temperature because it has a dangerous health risk.

The first risk is that hot food can cause concavity cancer. This occurs due to inflammation that occurs in the upper digestive tract. High food temperatures have an effect on the upper digestive tract, oral cavity, down to the concavity so that inflammation can occur.

"This inflammation will trigger concavity cancer," said Dede, quoted from the official website of UM Surabaya.

In addition, eating food or hot drinks can cause sores in the throat and this affects the digestive process of food.appropriation is a digestive organ that must be passed by food before food reaches the intestines, so eating hot food poses a risk.

In psychology, a person's phenomenon follows a trend called Bandwagon Effect. (Freepic)

Dede further said that the hot food temperature can irritate the stomach and increase the production of HCL acid. That is why the stomach will feel bloating and bulging when we eat hot foods. In addition, it is also said that Dede is more susceptible to stomach cancer if he often eats hot foods.

Not only affecting the throat, stomach, and stomach, food that is eaten in a hot condition can also lead to eroded dental email. Whereas dental email is the outermost layer of teeth that functions to protect teeth.

"Finally, the tongue can moisturize and numb, the tongue as the first body organ to feel the heat of food or drink, causing the tongue to become numb and break out when consuming hot food," he concluded.

The challenge of knowing the heat is actually not the only challenge that has gone viral and has been followed by many people. Since the era of social media has grown rapidly, various challenges have circulated in the community. Generally, this trend of challenges is rapidly spreading and imitated by social media users.

Some of the trends that also went viral on social media were the Skull Breaker Challenge, the Begshot Challenge, and thePass the Brug Challenge. Apart from the trend of challenging, the trend of using viral goods or products is no less popular.

The latest is the trend of drinking bottles from the Sultan Corkcicle, which, although the price is above average, is still being hunted by many people. In the world of beauty, the popularity of gel aloe vera had skyrocketed, until finally many brands issued similar products.

The question is, why do people tend to enjoy following such a viral trend even though sometimes it is useless or endangers themselves and others?

According to psychologists, there are several things that make people join in the trend that is going viral. First, of course, because it is influenced by close friends, groups, or communities. The second reason is because there is a feeling of feeling of missing out (FOMO) or being afraid to be considered less cool if you don't participate in trending on social media.

According to the lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology Psychology Studies (FPsi) Univesity Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta Fadjri Kirana Anggarani, S.Psi., MA, behaviors like to follow in psychologist science are called the Bandwagon Effect.

"Bandwagon Effect is a form of cognitive bias due to the influence of others and groups," said Fadjri, MA, citing UNS's official website.

Bandwagon Effect is a phenomenon in which a person tends to follow trends, styles, attitudes, and so on because he sees many people doing the same thing, regardless of the beliefs or principles and values held. Simply put, this can be called a social latah.

Bandwagon Effect is actually not a new term. This term was first introduced in the 19th century to explain the phenomenon of participating in political elections in the United States. Over time, the Bandwagon Effect does not only apply to political phenomena, but also other phenomena such as fashion, beauty, tourism trends, and has an impact on social media behavior.

Learning from various trends in the past few years, it seems that fried challenging will not be the last to go viral on social media. For this reason, Fadjri advised to be wise in responding to something that was trending or viral in society.

"Being involved is okay. As long as before doing or buying something that is going viral, it is necessary to think carefully about the needs and impacts on yourself. Thus, decisions taken on the basis of rationality are not intuition because they follow suit," he concluded.