World’s Hottest Pepper

An American breeder of chili peppers has broken his own record. He created the hottest pepper in the world for the second time.

Ed Currie is a South Carolina hot pepper expert who already held the world record with his Carolina Reaper, a pepper that's hotter than most pepper sprays police use on criminals. But now he has created Pepper X—a pepper that's much hotter.

Pepper X was publicly named the hottest pepper in the world on October 9, 2023 by Guinness World Records, beating the Carolina Reaper which had held the record since 2013.

Currie said when he first tried Pepper X, he was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. "Then the cramps came," said Currie. "Those cramps are horrible."

Pepper X, a greenish-yellow pepper, is a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and what Currie said was "a pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan".

The chemical in peppers that causes the burning feeling is called capsaicin. It isn't dangerous in small amounts and is believed to have some health benefits. Currie shares his peppers with medical researchers, hoping they can use them to cure diseases.

Currie thinks people can benefit from the rush that comes after eating a hot pepper. He also suggested that hotter peppers were still to come.

"Is this the pinnacle?" Currie said of Pepper X, a smile warming his face. "No, it's not the pinnacle."