For hundreds of years, daring people have been trying to find spices to make their bland meals more enjoyable. Some people even wish to find some of the hottest/spiciest food there is. But as of 2023, all prior spices can be put to shame when in comparison to the Pepper X. Made by Ed Currie, – founder of prior hottest pepper the Carolina Reaper – the Pepper X was developed throughout the decade with some of the hottest spices imaginable. This spicy pepper was cross-bred with hundreds of other hybrids per year in hopes of having at least one or two to succeed for the desired intense heat.
The pepper was bred with other hybrids of chili peppers with a high amount of capsaicin (the chemical that makes it spicy) in the locules (the tissue of the pepper/plant). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Pepper X managed an “average of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units”, which is roughly 300 times more spicy than a regular Takis chip and actually the minimum average of standard pepper spray. Another contributing factor to this immensely hot chili pepper is its large surface area that manages to retain these high amounts of capsaicin, which adds to the level of the spiciness. Ed Currie told reporters at BBC News that "Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.".
The only way to commercially consume this pepper is through hot sauces for legal reasons, both health and name wise. Since August 2023, Pepper X has been nominated the hottest pepper in the world after beating its predecessor, the Carolina Reaper (which had a SHU of 1.64 million).