'I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain,' said the man who created Pepper X, remembering the first time he ate it.
Ed Currie, the South Carolina hot pepper expert who crossbred and grew the Carolina Reaper that's hotter than most pepper sprays police use to subdue unruly criminals, has broken his own world record with a pepper that's three times hotter.
Pepper X's record is an average of 2.69 million units. By comparison, pepper spray commonly holstered by police is around 1.6 million units. Bear spray advertises at 2.2 million units. The chemical in peppers that causes the burn, called capsaicin, resides in the same family as arsenic, but is much milder and not dangerous unless pounds of it are consumed. Even so, the minds of humans and other mammals perceive capsaicin as a threat and send a strong burning signal to the body. Because birds don't have the same reaction, they are able spread pepper seeds while sparing the plant.
Currie allowed people grow the peppers without protecting his ideas. His lawyers have counted more than 10,000 products that use the Carolina Reaper name, or its other intellectual property, without permission. That work includes dozens of fields across York County, secret greenhouses where Currie works on peppers to prevent them from being stolen and a PuckerButt store in Fort Mill where Currie works on dozens of sauce ideas that range from mild to blazing hot. He also sells his peppers to companies worldwide.
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Pepper X takes down Carolina Reaper as world's hottest pepperThe South Carolina hot pepper expert who set a world record for the hottest pepper a decade ago is at it again.
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Pepper X takes down Carolina Reaper as world's hottest pepperThe South Carolina hot pepper expert who set a world record for the hottest pepper a decade ago is at it again.
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Pepper X takes down Carolina Reaper as world's hottest pepperThe South Carolina hot pepper expert who set a world record for the hottest pepper a decade ago is at it again.
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