What is the Starburst Challenge? Kissing Trend Takes TikTok by Storm

TikTok is awash with strange trends and unlikely crazes, and the latest incarnation of these involves a much-loved candy: Starbursts

Young people on the video-sharing app have been using the taffies to make clips, but they're not just about how delicious they may taste.

Here is everything you need to know about the "Starburst Challenge."

What is the Starburst Challenge on TikTok?

The Starburst Challenge involves people kissing with the candy in their mouths.

It originated on May 5 when TikTok user @saraballinnn shared a video of herself miming along to a song with text overlaying the footage which read: "making out after eating Starbursts >>".

In the caption she then wrote: "definitely recommend." The clip has since been viewed 3.5 million times, and received 740,000 likes.

This has resulted in many people stitching their own segment onto the video, showing them trying it out for themselves, or just making clips of themselves kissing another with the treat in their mouths.

The hashtag #starburstchallenge currently has over 23.5 million views on the platform.

How do you do the Starburst Challenge on TikTok?

All you need to participate in the challenge is a packet of the candies and a person to kiss.

Then you eat one of the treats and lock lips with a partner—seems simple enough.

Reviews of the sweet kiss differ greatly. TikTok user Julia Forrant, known online as @juliaforrant, uploaded her attempt to the site on May 11.

It begins with herself and a male friend throwing Starbursts into each other's open mouths, with text that reads: "We ate a whole pack trying to catch these..."

They then shared their opinion, putting their thumbs down to the camera and writing: "Nothing special guys... don't get the hype."

However, famed TikTok star Avery Cyrus also tried the challenge, stitched on to @saraballinnn's original video on May 11.

Her clip of herself kissing a female friend has received 5.9 million views and 1.2 million likes. She captioned it: "It's a yes from us."

While this challenge is relatively innocent, there have been some potentially dangerous trends that have circulated on the platform.

This includes the "blackout challenge," which was linked to the death, back in January, of a 10-year-old girl in Italy.

The challenge encouraged users to hold their breath or restrict their airflow with the aim of losing consciousness.

In 2019, the "eye challenge" also came under fire for enticing TikTok users to put bleach near their eyes.

TikTok's latest transparency report, which covers the second half of 2020, revealed that it had removed 89,132,938 videos worldwide for violating its terms of service or community guidelines.