Current:Home > StocksWhat is the hottest pepper in the world? Pepper X, Carolina Reaper ranked on the spice scale -ProfitEdge
What is the hottest pepper in the world? Pepper X, Carolina Reaper ranked on the spice scale
View
Date:2025-04-16 23:43:42
You may like spicy foods, but do you think you could handle the hottest pepper in the world? In the world of record-breaking hot ones, there's a new sheriff in town – the Guinness World Records crowned the new winner in October 2023.
While we may willingly eat spicy peppers, scientists believe their capsaicinoids – the compound that makes them hot – evolved to scare off animals trying to take a bite. Birds, on the other hand, don't have the same heat-sensing receptors in their mouths, so they can handle peppers without the same heat we feel. Their pepper-snacking may have helped disperse seeds on a wider geographical scale, according to New Mexico State University.
Here's the one that ranks as the world’s hottest pepper.
What is the hottest pepper in the world?
The world's hottest pepper is the Pepper X, grown by Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company in South Carolina. The Pepper X dethroned the Caroline Reaper (also created by Currie) in October 2023 and now holds the Guinness World Record title. It clocked in at just under 2.7 million Scoville Heat Units, the scale used to rank how spicy peppers are. The Reaper averaged 1.64 million SHU and peaked at about 2.2 million SHU.
For comparison, a jalapeño registers about 2,500 to 8,000 SHU and cayenne pepper is 30,000 to 50,000 SHU.
According to Guinness World Records, Currie crossbreeds over 100 peppers each year in the hopes that, over a 10-year process, it'll yield a new spicy pepper or two.
Is spicy food good for you?The role it plays in your immune system
Can you eat the world’s hottest pepper?
"Hot Ones" host Sean Evans and guests were left in tears after eating Currie's new Pepper X. When Currie unveiled it in October, he told the Associated Press he was only one of five people to eat an entire Pepper X so far.
“I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came,” Currie told AP. “Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.”
In 2018, a 34-year-old man went to the emergency room complaining of severe headaches just days after eating a Carolina Reaper. Newsweek reported that brain scans revealed constricted arteries that eventually returned to their normal state five weeks later. In 2020, the National Center for Biotechnological Information reported an incident of a 15-year-old boy who ate a Carolina Reaper and had an acute cerebellar stroke two days later after being hospitalized because of headaches.
Still, the world's hottest peppers continue to be eaten. League of Fire ranks chili-eating champions with a specific set of rules – they need the details of the official event, the credentials of the witnesses present and no more than 200 Carolina Reapers can be consumed.
The title is held by Gregory “Iron Guts” Barlow of Melbourne, Australia, who ate 160 Reapers in one sitting. In second place is Duston "Atomik Menace" Johnson of Las Vegas, who ate 122 peppers.
What are the top five hottest peppers?
According to PepperHead and based on the new world record, here are the five peppers that pack the most heat:
- Pepper X: 2,693,000 SHU
- Carolina Reaper: 2,200,000 SHU
- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion: 2,009,231 SHU
- 7 Pot Douglah: 1,853,936 SHU
- 7 Pot Primo: 1,469,000 SHU
How do you measure how hot a pepper is?
Pharmacist Wilbur Scoville invented the Scoville scale in 1912 to measure a pepper’s heat. According to Masterclass, Scoville tested peppers by mixing sugar water with an alcohol-based extract of capsaicin oil – the chemical compound in chili peppers that makes them hot. Scoville placed the solution with water on the taste testers’ tongues and diluted it with water to rank how spicy the testers thought it was.
Now, scientists use a more high-tech method instead of tongue testing. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography determines the concentration of capsaicin in a pepper using the same Scoville ranking system.
Pure capsaicin ranks at 16 million SHU.
Hottest place on Earth:This is the valley with the highest temperatures
Just Curious for more? We've got you covered
USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "What exercise burns the most calories?" to "What is the healthiest vegetable?" to "What is the debt ceiling?" – we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you.
veryGood! (67489)
Related
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Wind advisories grip the Midwest as storms move east after overnight tornado warnings
- Production manager testifies about gun oversight in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin in 2021 rehearsal
- A former Georgia police officer and a current one are indicted in a fatal November 2022 shooting
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Ford electric vehicle owners can now charge on Tesla’s network, but they’ll need an adapter first
- UC Berkeley officials denounce protest that forced police to evacuate Jewish event for safety
- Nevada and other swing states need more poll workers. Can lawyers help fill the gap?
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Understanding the Weather Behind a Down Year for Wind Energy
Ranking
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Curb Your Enthusiasm Actor Richard Lewis Dead at 76
- US applications for jobless benefits rise but remain historically low despite recent layoffs
- Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and the power of (and need for) male friendship
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Washington state lawmakers consider police pursuit and parents’ rights initiatives
- Maine’s deadliest shooting spurs additional gun control proposals
- The human cost of climate-related disasters is acutely undercounted, new study says
Recommendation
'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
A California county ditched its vote counting machines. Now a supporter faces a recall election
Advice to their younger selves: 10 of our Women of the Year honorees share what they've learned
A 911 call claiming transportation chief was driving erratically was ‘not truthful,” police say
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
White powder sent to judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case, adding to wave of security scares
NYC Mayor Eric Adams wants changes to sanctuary city laws, increased cooperation with ICE
Reputed mobster gets four years in prison for extorting NYC labor union