The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper is so hot, you need to protect your nose and eyes.
The pepper has officially been named the world’s hottest, scoring 1.46million on the Scoville measurement of spiciness.
The previous record holder was the Naga Viper pepper, which was recorded having only 1.38m Scoville heat units. Generally anything above 1m is considered dangerous to consume raw.
The Australian-grown pepper is a third hotter than the Bhut Jolokia, which is 400 times stronger than Tabasco sauce and hits Tesco’s British stores this week.
With its origins in Trinidad and Tobago, the scorpion pepper component of the Butch T has led to the Trinidadian Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Cardi) looking to retrieve the rights to claim the chilli as its own.
Butch Taylor, owner of Zydeco Hot Sauce, spent years genetically engineering peppers - catching the attention of Neil Smith from the Hippy Seed Company in Australia.
Smith asked Taylor for the hybrid seeds, and gave them to Marcel de Wit, who began growing them enthusiastically.
After testing the spice levels of the fully-grown chillis, the Hippy Seed Company sent them off to the Guinness World Records.
In his submission Mr Smith related the sensation of eating the chilli to having 'a soldering iron on my tongue and throat'.
Ouch
The previous record holder was the Naga Viper pepper, which was recorded having only 1.38m Scoville heat units. Generally anything above 1m is considered dangerous to consume raw.
The Australian-grown pepper is a third hotter than the Bhut Jolokia, which is 400 times stronger than Tabasco sauce and hits Tesco’s British stores this week.
With its origins in Trinidad and Tobago, the scorpion pepper component of the Butch T has led to the Trinidadian Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Cardi) looking to retrieve the rights to claim the chilli as its own.
Butch Taylor, owner of Zydeco Hot Sauce, spent years genetically engineering peppers - catching the attention of Neil Smith from the Hippy Seed Company in Australia.
Smith asked Taylor for the hybrid seeds, and gave them to Marcel de Wit, who began growing them enthusiastically.
After testing the spice levels of the fully-grown chillis, the Hippy Seed Company sent them off to the Guinness World Records.
In his submission Mr Smith related the sensation of eating the chilli to having 'a soldering iron on my tongue and throat'.
Ouch
