Eat the heat at the California Hot Sauce Expo

Here is an eating competition so brutal that it’s been known to send people to the hospital.

It’s not because contestants are overstuffed with food; it’s because they’re eating something with so much potent heat that it’s even been used as a military weapon.

“The first few seconds aren’t too bad, but then when it hits you, out of nowhere, you’re just destroyed. And then everything you thought might happen is even worse, 10 times worse,” said 27-year-old Garrett Carroll.

The Buena Park resident will once again destroy himself on purpose by eating as many of the world’s hottest peppers as he can at the upcoming Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper Eating Challenge.

The chili pepper eating competition is the main event at the second aual Califoia Hot Sauce Expo set for Rainbow Lagoon July 16-17.

The expo is organized by the New York-based High River Sauces, which puts on a similar event in New York.

It’s a celebration of peppers, hot sauce and everything spicy with about 40 hot sauce companies bringing samples of their sauces, like the Long Beach-based Hot Licks shop.

“It’s just a lot of fun being part of it. I meet a lot of people there who like hot sauce and even a lot of suppliers,” said shop owner Craig Leaer.

There will be spicy (and regular) food vendors, live music and contests, including taco and chicken wing eating competitions and Bloody Mary and amateur hot sauce making showdowns.

“You’re really going to get to taste a lot of gourmet, amazing hot sauces. You’re not going to find this stuff at stores,” said Steve Seabury, owner of High River Sauces.

But the highlight of the weekend will be the Sunday afteoon Carolina Reaper challenge.

Created by Ed Currie, founder of the South Carolina-based PuckerButt Pepper Co., the Reaper is a cross between a Red Habanero and Pakistani Naga Viper peppers.

To win the competition, contestants must eat as many peppers as possible in 60 seconds and then stand there enduring the pain for another 60 seconds without drinking water or anything to relieve their suffering.

And they will suffer.

The pepper’s heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units. And as the current Guiess World Record-holder for the hottest pepper, the Reaper delivers an average of 1.5 million SHU.

In comparison, the Jalapeno averages a measly 2,500-8,000 SHU. Even the Habanero, at about 300,000 SHU, seems like a bell pepper by comparison.

Advertisement

“I’ve eaten one of those peppers, and I was in extreme pain. It’s not a fun thing,” Seabury said.

The current undisputed Reaper king is 31-year-old New York resident Wayne Algenio, who ate 22 peppers in one minute at the NYC Expo in April.

That’s the same year three people ended up going to the hospital during the competition, Seabury said with a bit of a laugh.

“With this extreme heat, they just start freaking out, their bodies start freaking out,” he said.

Seabury noted that the pepper is so hot it’s used by the military for “industrial strength military grade” pepper spray.

“It’s no joke, this stuff is serious,” he added.

The competition in New York isn’t the only one that landed people in the hospital. It also happened last year in Long Beach when two people ended up needing medical help after biting into the Reapers.

“People get screwed up,” Seabury said.

Carroll wasn’t one of the ones that ended up in the hospital when he took part in the competition last year, but he was one of the contestants who got screwed up.

He managed to eat five peppers in one minute but just touching the Reaper left rashes on his hands and he even lost his sense of smell for hours after the competition.

“The Reaper is no joke; that thing is crazy,” Carroll said.

Yet he’s plaing on doing it again this year and thinks he can improve his performance.

“It’s like a personal challenge now,” he said.

- - , .
.