Dive Brief:
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Tabasco has released a scorpion pepper hot sauce that is 20 times hotter than its original recipe, Today.com reports.
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Scorpion sauce is made with the Trinidad moruga scorpion pepper, one of the world’s hottest chili peppers, and is usually mixed with a tropical fruit flavor. Tabasco’s Scorpion Sauce is made with guava and pineapple. It is only available for a limited time, either via the company’s website or directly from The McIlhenny Company, which makes the sauce on Avery Island, Louisiana.
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The spiciness of regular Tabasco chili peppers is about 2,500 to 5,000 on the Scoville scale, while scorpion peppers hit about 2 million Scoville units. They are thought to be second in spiciness only to the Carolina reaper chili pepper, which can reach about 2.2 million Scoville units.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. market for hot sauces has become larger and increasingly diverse, with companies focusing on different types of chili peppers from around the world — including habanero, ghost pepper and chipotle — as well as different fruity flavors. In addition, a market has emerged for those brave individuals who like exceptionally hot peppers. Hot sauces catering to this segment often carry names that underline their extreme heat, like Cauterizer or Reapercussion.
The hot sauce market has grown about 150% since 2000, according to Euromonitor data, and at a faster rate than the markets for mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard and ketchup combined. Younger consumers and foodies are the major driving forces behind the trend as they look to cut sugar, sodium and fat without losing flavor. Heat, particularly when combined with fruity or smoky flavors, can be a healthful alternative. Tabasco’s scorpion pepper hot sauce is part of its effort to tap into that trend, and is just the latest addition to a range that includes many chili varieties.
The compound that gives chili peppers their heat, called capsaicin, activates pain receptors in the mouth and stomach that do not distinguish between pain caused by an actual burn or by eating chilies. Other than causing serious digestive discomfort, sweating and widened blood vessels — increasing blood supply to an area that the brain perceives could have been damaged by an actual burn — eating very hot chili peppers is not likely to be dangerous.
Capsaicin may even have some health benefits, with studies touting its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Some researchers claim the compound can aid weight loss or serve as pain relief.