The world has a new spicy pepper – and it's more than 50 per cent hotter than the previous record holder.
Pepper X was crowned by the Guinness Book of World Records earlier this month, beating the Carolina Reaper. Both are crossbreds by Ed Currie, a farmer who also runs hot sauce company PuckerButt.
The spice level of peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). While a regular jalapeno pepper registers about 5,000 units, the Pepper X steams ahead with 2.7 million units.
The Carolina Reaper, certified in 2013, comes in at 1.6 million units. By comparison, the pepper spray used by the police is about 1.6 million, while bear spray is measured at about 2.2 million.
Currie told the Associated Press that Pepper X was a result of his decade-long research to find the perfect pepper that he says provides “immediate, brutal heat”.
He is one of only five people to eat an entire Pepper X.
“I was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. Then the cramps came,” he said. “Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.”
Currie's long obsession with peppers is featured in the Netflix documentary We Are the Champions, which explores quirky and oddly inspirational competitions. The film centres on an annual Pepper Eating Challenge hosted by Currie, who is popularly known on social media as Smokin’ Ed.
With a new winner crowned, here are the world's top five hottest peppers.
1. Pepper X: 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units
A greenish-yellow variety with an earthy flavour, Pepper X is a crossbreed of the Carolina Reaper and another “brutally hot” pepper that inventor Currie is not revealing. Pepper X was certified as the world's hottest by the Guinness Book of World Records on October 9.
2. Carolina Reaper: 1.64 million SHU
Certified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 and also created by Currie, this bright red creation has a distinctive scorpion-like tail. Currie, who allowed people to grow the peppers without protecting his intellectual property, says he has learnt an important lesson and will not repeat the same with Pepper X. He told Associated Press his lawyers have counted more than 10,000 products that use the Carolina Reaper name without permission.
3. Trinidad Scorpion 'Butch T' pepper: 1.46 million SHU
Derived from the Trinidad Moruga scorpion (see below) and crossbred by American farmers, the Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” pepper held its title for about three years, before being toppled by the Carolina Reaper. The pepper is called “scorpion” because of its pointed tail.
4. Naga Viper pepper: 1.38 million SHU
Recorded as the world's hottest chilli by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011, this is a hybrid of the Naga Morich, the Bhut jolokia and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.
It was created in England by farmer Gerald Fowler.
5. Trinidad Moruga scorpion: 1.2 million SHU
Certified by the New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute as the hottest pepper in the world in 2012, this little bulb is native to the village of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago, hence its name.
It is known to have a fruit-like flavour, which gives it a sweet-hot taste for those who can stand the heat.
Special mention – Bhut jolokia or Ghost pepper: 1 million SHU
The certification of Bhut jolokia as the world's hottest pepper by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007 essentially kick-started a global race to grow the world's hottest peppers.
A native of North East India, Bhut jolokia is also popularly known as “king chilli”. So pungent is its taste that scientists at India's Defence Research and Development Organisation announced plans to use the peppers in hand grenades to control rioters or in self-defence.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
