The Carolina Reaper has taken the title of world's hottest pepper, after a four-year quest to do just that. The Guinness Book of World Records in November handed the honor to Ed Currie, who grows the fire-engine red peppers in South Carolina. The move followed 2012 testing at Winthrop University to determine where Currie's peppers fell in terms of Scoville Heat Units, which measure what it sounds like they should: a pepper's heat. For comparison's sake, a jalapeno clocks in at about 5,000 to 8,000 Scoville Units.
Currie's record-setting batch (code name HP22B for "Higher Power, Pot No. 22, Plant B") measured an average 1,569,300 Scoville Units, with the hottest pepper among the group clocking in at 2.2 million units, reports the AP. That's about 200,000 units beyond pepper spray's measure. The Los Angeles Times reports the ominously named Trinidad Moruga Scorpion was named hottest last year by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute; its average measurement was roughly 1.2 million units, with the hottest at more than 2 million. Want to test your mettle? You can order hot sauce made from Currie's peppers (with names like "I Dare You Stupit") here. (More chile peppers stories.)
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