A Denver news anchor didn’t just sweat when she ate the world’s spiciest tortilla chip – her body literally rejected it.
Natalie Tysdal and the rest of the KWGN Denver news team took part in Paqui Chips’ ‘One Chip Challenge’ Wednesday morning, each eating a tortilla chip made with the world’s hottest chili – the Carolina Reaper – and filming their reaction to it.
As soon as the anchors took a bite, they started having a physical reaction to the pepper – some starting to cough.
Tysdal gagged and then reached for her coffee. But after taking a swig of her beverage, she doubled over and threw up underneath the anchor desk.
‘Oh, oh Natalie threw up!’ one of her co-workers says. ‘This is going very poorly.’
The news team at KWGN in Denver tried tortilla chips made with the world’s hottest pepper on Wednesday
Anchor Natalie Tysdal threw up after eating just half a chip. She’s pictured above gagging soon after taking a bite
Tysdal later said that her mistake was trying to wash the chili down with coffee
‘I thought I was okay until I had a drink of my coffee to wash down the chip. I threw up, couldn’t breathe and felt like fire was coming out of my mouth, nose and ears,’ she said
Tysdal’s producer ran to her aid after throwing up underneath the anchor desk
A worker behind the camera came out and offered Tysdal a bottle of chocolate milk
‘I wouldn’t recommend it,’ Tysdal later wrote on Facebook
One of Natalie’s producers then comes over and pats her on the back while a man behind the camera runs out and hands her a bottle of chocolate milk. Meanwhile, the rest of the anchors start laughing.
Tysdal later took to Facebook to go into further detail about the experience.
‘I thought I was okay until I had a drink of my coffee to wash down the chip. I threw up, couldn’t breathe and felt like fire was coming out of my mouth, nose and ears.
‘I had a bottle of water, a glass of milk, a tablespoon of honey and 3 mints and still felt on fire. An hour later I had chills and a massive headache. Three hours have gone by and I feel like I was beat up in a dark alley.
‘Oh, and did I mention I shared the chip with my producer Scott Elliott? CRAZY! I wouldn’t recommend it,’ Tysdal wrote.
Chip company Pacqui is running the One Chip Challenge as part of a sweepstakes to win a year’s worth of chips.
Chip company Pacqui is running the One Chip Challenge as part of a sweepstakes to win a year’s worth of chips. In order to enter, contestants have to eat one of their Carolina Reaper Madness Chips, film their reaction to it and then upload that to social media. The three winners will be announced in February.
In order to enter, contestants have to eat one of their Carolina Reaper Madness Chips, film their reaction to it and then upload that to social media. The three winners will be announced in February.
The chips are sold individually, in little coffin-shaped boxes. There’s also a larger party pack box, with several individually-wrapped chips, but those are currently sold out.
The Carolina Reaper chili was bred in a Rock Hill, South Carolina greenhouse by ‘Smokin” Ed Currie, owner of the PuckerButt Pepper Company.
It’s a cross between the Bhut Jolokia (a former world record holder for hottest chili) and a red habanero.
It was certified as the world’s hottest better in 2013 by Guinness World Records, topping the Trinidad Scorpian ‘Butch T’ for hottest chili.
When it is fully ripe, the pepper is about the size and shape of a ping pong ball, with a pointed tail at the end. The pepper was named in honor of the Grim Reaper because of the tail, which has a scythe-like shape.
The chili has been described as fruity in taste by it’s inventor
‘When you bite into it, the initial taste is sweet. You go, wow, that wasn’t so bad. And then immediately, that vast amount of capsaicin takes over, and it’s kind of like eating molten lava. That’s the best way to put it,’ Ed Currie told Public Radio International.
The Carolina Reaper may soon be unseated as world’s hottest chili.
In May, Mike Smith of Wales bred a new chili called Dragon’s Breath which he claims has registered at hotter levels that the Carolina Reaper. Chilis are measured on what’s called the Scoville Scale. For example, a peperoncini registereds 100 to 200 scovilles while the Carolina Reaper has clocked 2.2million. Smith says his Dragon’s Breath has registered 2.48million. Smith has submitted to have the pepper tested by Guinness.
One person who ate the chili says that their mouth was numb for days, opening up the possibility that the chili could be used as a numbing agent in medical procedures for people who can’t tolerate other anesthetics.
THE CAROLINA REAPER: LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD’S HOTTEST CHILI
WHAT IS IT?
A Carolina Reaper chili is seen above. The pointed tip of the chili is how it got it’s name – after the Grim Reaper’s scythe
The Carolina Reaper chili was bred in a Rock Hill, South Carolina greenhouse by ‘Smokin” Ed Currie, owner of the PuckerButt Pepper Company.
It’s a cross between the Bhut Jolokia (a former world record holder for hottest chili) and a red habanero.
When it is fully ripe, the pepper is about the size and shape of a ping pong ball, with a pointed tail at the end. The pepper was named in honor of the Grim Reaper because of the tail, which has a scythe-like shape.
The chili has been described as fruity in taste by it’s inventor
‘When you bite into it, the initial taste is sweet. You go, wow, that wasn’t so bad. And then immediately, that vast amount of capsaicin takes over, and it’s kind of like eating molten lava. That’s the best way to put it,’ Ed Currie told Public Radio International.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO OTHER CHILIS?
Chili pungency is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). Below are a few commonly-known chilies and where they rank on the scale
Dragon’s Breath: 2,480,000 SHU (unconfirmed, so not officially the world’s hottest chili yet)
Carolina Reaper: 1,400,000-2,200,000 SHU
Trinidad Scorpion: 1,200,000-2,000,000 SHU
Ghost Pepper: 855,000-1,041,427 SHU
Chocolate Habanero: 425,000-577,000 SHU
Red Savina Habanero: 350,000-577,000 SHU
Fatali: 125,000-325,000 SHU
Habanero: 100,000-350,000 SHU
Scotch Bonnet: 100,000-350,000 SHU
Thai Pepper: 50,000-100,000 SHU
Cayenne Pepper: 30,000-50,000 SHU
Tabasco Pepper: 30,000-50,000 SHU
Arbol: 15,000-30,000 SHU
Serrano Pepper: 10,000-23,000 SHU
Hungarian: 5,000-10,000 SHU
Jalapeno: 2,500-8,000 SHU
Poblano: 1,000-1,500 SHU
Anaheim: 500-2,500 SHU
Pepperoncini: 100-500 SHU
Bell pepper: 0 SHU