The ghost pepper is one of the world’s five hottest chilis. Really, it’s “food” about as much as hemlock or castor beans. At more than 1 million Scoville units, it has, on at least one occasion, eaten a hole clean through someone’s throat on the way down. With that in mind, here is competitive eater Kevin “L.A. Beast” Strahle having 13 of them in two minutes:
All told, Strahle ingested 121.9 grams’ worth (under visible duress, as his snarls and bloodshot eyes would suggest). But that was good enough to double the previous Guinness World Record, so he didn’t walk away empty-handed. He claims his eyes are immune to capsaicin — which, in the case of ghost peppers, can allegedly blind you.
