- Guinness World Records crowned Pepper X the world's hottest pepper.
- It measures in at a blistering 2.693 million Scoville Heat Units.
- It dethroned the previous winner, the Carolina Reaper.
Apparently, when you taste the world's hottest pepper, both your face and chest feel tight, and it's difficult to form words, as evidenced by the reaction on the YouTube show "Hot Ones."
Ed Currie, creator of Pepper X, appeared on the show to receive the Guinness World Record for the hottest pepper, measuring an average of 2.693 million Scoville Heat Units. A jalapeño, by contrast, measures between 2,500 and 8,000 SHU.
"Did you invent that pepper?" musician Claus Pilgaard, who tried Pepper X, asked Currie on the show. "Why?"
Breaking the streak
Until now, no one had beaten the previous record for the world's hottest pepper in over a decade. Currie is also the creator of that pepper, the Carolina Reaper.
Wilbur Scoville created his namesake metric in 1912, which measures the concentration levels of capsaicin within the pepper.
Capsaicin is a chemical compound that gives peppers their burn. Researchers use laboratory equipment to precisely measure the amount.
Eating these extremely spicy peppers can lead to all sorts of unpleasant effects, including "thunderclap" headaches, when blood vessels tighten suddenly, restricting blood flow to the brain. There can also be more serious complications, including death.
How Pepper X compares to the 6 hottest peppers before it
Since 2011, Guinness has awarded several peppers with the prestiguous honor of "world's hottest." Here's how they stack up to Pepper X.
- Pepper X: 2,693,000 SHU
- Carolina Reaper: 1,569,300 SHU
- Trinidad Scorpion Butch T: 1,463,700 SHU
- Naga Viper: 1,382,118 SHU
- Trinidad Moruga scorpion: 1,200,000 SHU
- Infinity: 1,176,182 SHU
- Bhut Jolokia "Ghost" Pepper: 1,001,304 SHU