Watch This Kid Learn a Very Hard Lesson About Cacao

Any kid who grew up with parents of the cacao-loving hippie generation or thought themselves sneaky by stealing a bite of baking chocolate has come face to face with the bitter realities of unsweetened cacao. In this Reddit video, the mom — exasperated with her kid’s begging for a taste of the 100% cacao powder —finally gives in and lets him teach himself a lesson. The results tiptoe the line between heartbreaking and hilarious.

The kid, finally given the freedom to taste what he thinks is the promised land, stoically tries to play it off like he doesn’t care, but eventually releases puffs of the cacao dust in adorable little coughs. Then, when his mom directs him to the sink, he runs off to expel the rest. The video brings tinges of sympathy for the kid from any adult who ever felt fooled by cacao nibs or squares of baking chocolate, but also for the mom from any parent whose kid has incessantly begged to eat something you know they won’t like as much as they think they will (ask my toddler her feelings on spicy Doritos).

But it also brings up the question of whether or not the mom did the right thing: Redditors argue the mom put the kid in danger. Those claiming that the amount of theobromine is dangerous for the kid are wrong: A tablespoon of 100% cacao powder has about 150 milligrams of theobromine and it takes about 1,000 milligrams per kilogram of body weight to harm a human. Others mentioning he could inhale the powder into his lungs, have a stronger point — there have been recorded cases of children hospitalized for this, similar to the issues caused by the cinnamon challenge.

But most people, many of whom share similar tales of their first taste of tomato paste, Scotch, or vanilla extract, empathize and think the kid learned a good lesson — even if it’s one he could have learned more safely if the mom took the extra step to mix the powder into milk or water first.