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Two people were arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly body-slamming the manager of a Sonic Drive-In restaurant because they were incorrectly served a hot dog with jalapenos on top, cops said. Quantaurius Simmons and Andres Brisco arrived with two other people at the fast food restaurant on Saturday and ordered a hot dog with a side of jalapeno poppers at around 7:30 p.m., according to Tulsa police. Instead, however, the group received a hot dog with jalapenos on it, triggering an argument between them and the Sonic employees. A manager stepped in to try and quell the situation, but Simmons allegedly...

Greg Foster creates a world record for eating three Carolina Reaper peppers in record 8.72 seconds. According to Guinness World Records, Carolina Reaper averages 1,641,183 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) - the hottest chillies in the world.A video of a man chewing down Carolina Reaper chillies has created a buzz on the Internet and left netizens both shocked and amused. While many couldn’t help but mention the aftermath of setting this rather insane record, others underscored how easily they could break it. Shared on Instagram, the video shows a man from the USA setting the world record title for the 'fastest...

Like spicy food? If so, you might live longer, say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality - primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke—in a large prospective study. Going back for centuries, peppers and spices have been thought to be beneficial in the treatment of diseases, but only one other study—conducted in China and published in 2015 - has previously examined chili pepper consumption and its association with mortality. This new study corroborates...

The ghost pepper is one of the world’s hottest peppers, with a Scoville rating of more than a million. So it might follow that you shouldn’t ingest it in more than tiny quantities. And yet, the Journal of Emergency Medicine reports on the unusual case of a man who tore a hole in his esophagus after eating an incredibly hot ghost pepper. The 47-year-old American ate a burger topped with a “ghost pepper puree” as part of an eating contest. YouTube is rife with video of people eating these things, so you can probably guess how this one went: The...

The incident happened during the lunch period, and the district was still working to determine how many students were involved and where the hot peppers came from, said Superintendent Brad Ritchey of Milton-Union Exempted Village Schools. Police and emergency crews were called to the school on Milton-Potsdam Road. The investigation revealed all involved students “took these peppers voluntarily,” according to police. In total, five students were taken to local hospitals and approximately 40 students — ages 11 to 14 — had ingested the peppers. “The response of emergency services was amazing; deputies and help from surrounding paramedics … we really...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) The Internet cooled off last year with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Now, in the name of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) many are heating up by chowing down on hot peppers and chugging Tabasco sauce. The "Feel The Bern Challenge" asks Sanders supporters to make videos of themselves eating jalapeños, taking shots of hot sauce, or otherwise working up a sweat and then battle through the burn to explain why they support the Socialist senator from Vermont in his run for the Democratic nomination for president.

SYDNEY : Beware, Naga Viper. Your reign as the world's hottest chili pepper may be coming to a close. A group of Australians is seeking world record status for a new variety of chili, a bright red pepper so potent that processing it for eating requires gas masks and protective chemical warfare-like clothing. The "Trinidad Scorpion Butch T" chili, a mere 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, comes it at a fiery 1.46 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU) per chili, according to testing by Melbourne firm EML Chemical == taking it well past the Naga Viper British Chili, the current Guinness...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and...

Yes, the Naga Viper, the latest claimant to the world's-hottest-pepper crown, outdistances its predecessor, the Bhut Jolokia, or "ghost chili," by more than 300,000 points on the famous Scoville scale of tongue-scorching chili hotness.

Taiwan scientists have found evidence that suggests capsaicin -- the substance that gives red pepper a spicy kick -- can reduce the growth of fat cells. Gow-Chin Yen and colleagues at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan, cite previous research suggesting obesity can be reduced by preventing immature fat cells, called adipocytes, from developing into mature cells. Past research also linked capsaicin to a decrease in the amount of fat tissue and decreased blood-fat levels. With that knowledge, the researchers tested capsaicin's effects on pre-adipocytes and adipocytes growing in laboratory cultures. They found capsaicin prevented pre-adipocytes from filling...

AVERY ISLAND, La. (AP) — On a salt dome that rises from the Cajun flatlands like an island from the sea, the plant which makes Tabasco sauce was safe from floods caused by Hurricane Rita. And it had enough stock on hand to ship out until the factory regained power. Many of its workers weren't as lucky. "We've got a lot of employees that live in Delcambre and Erath and Lydia and low-lying areas around Avery Island," Paul McIlhenny, chief executive of McIlhenny Co., said Wednesday. [snip] Power had been out since Friday night, when the storm was still offshore....