Fiery food mavens seeking to one-up each other now have to gear
up for a whole new test of culinary bravado: the world's hottest
chili pepper.
Yes, the Naga Viper, the latest claimant to
the world's-hottest-pepper crown, outdistances its
predecessor, the
Bhut
Jolokia, or "ghost chili," by more than
300,000 points on the famous Scoville scale of tongue-scorching
chili hotness. Researchers at Warwick University testing the Naga
Viper found that it measures 1,359,000 on the
Scoville
scale, which rates heat by tracking the presence
of a chemical compound. In comparison, most varieties of jalapeño
peppers measure in the 2,500 to 5,000 range -- milder than the Naga
Viper by a factor of 270.
[Related: Most dangerous food
ingredients]
You might think the Naga Viper would hail from some part of the
world with a strong demand for spicy food, such as India or Mexico.
But the new pepper is actually the handiwork of Gerald Fowler, a
British chili farmer and pub owner, who crossed three of the
hottest peppers known to man -- including the Bhut Jolokia -- to
create his Frankenstein-monster chili.
"It's painful to eat," Fowler told the Daily
Mail. "It's hot enough to strip paint." Indeed, the
Daily Mail reports that defense researchers are already
investigating the pepper's potential uses as a weapon.
But Fowler -- who makes customers sign a waiver declaring that
they're of sound mind and body before trying a Naga Viper-based
curry -- insists that consuming the fiery chili does the body
good.
"It numbs your tongue, then burns all the way down," he told the
paper. "It can last an hour, and you just don't want to talk to
anyone or do anything. But it's a marvelous endorphin rush. It
makes you feel great."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101203/sc_yblog_thelookout/worlds-hottest-pepper-is-hot-enough-to-strip-paint
