Greg Foster, a California man who owns Inferno Farms Hot sauce recently earned another Guinness World Record involving peppers, this time, consuming ten Carolina Reapers. 

Foster also claims two other records to his name, including the fastest time to eat three Bhut Jolokia Chilies at 7.47 seconds, and the quickest time to eat only three Carolina Reapers, at 8.72 seconds. During his latest record on September 17th, 2022, which he attempted at the same time as Mitch Donnelly, resulted in a time of 33.21 seconds to finish all ten Carolina Reapers, although Foster’s partner didn’t finish. The competition, occurring in San Diego, California, was achieved a mere nine months following Foster’s other record using Carolina Reapers

Known as the hottest chili peppers in the world, California Reapers were introduced in 2013 by Ed Currie, a pepper breeder, and proprietor of the PuckerButt Pepper Company, although it was certified as the hottest chili in 2017 by Guinness World Records. Where Jalepeños are typically around 2,000 to 8,000 on the Scoville Heat Unit scale, Carolina Reapers exceed that tremendously, with the hottest registering at around 1,641,183 Scoville Heat Units. They are a cross between the La Soufriere pepper from the Caribbean, more specifically Saint Vincent, and the Naga Viper pepper originating in Pakistan. The pepper is sweet initially but quickly develops into an extremely hot taste. 

Following the competition, Foster reported that “The good thing about reapers is the really bad heat doesn’t kick in for about 30 seconds or so.” In terms of other advice given to participants willing to go through the pain of pepper-eating competition, Greg Foster recommended that participants make sure they have plenty of milk, ice cream, and a garbage can on hand for post-competition. Foster was nearly the perfect applicant for this record as well, since, not only does he have a passion for peppers and spicy foods, but he also has a high tolerance for them and is able to eat fast, skills that served him well during the competition. 

Both Greg Foster and Mitch Donnelly had things to say regarding the record, which can be watched here on Guinness’ official video of the submission.