Are you a lover of all things hot and spicy? The culinary world received a significant shake-up recently when a historically hot pepper, "Pepper X," unseated its contender as the world's spiciest pepper, according to the Guinness World Records. Ed Currie of the PuckerButt Pepper Company grew this peppery titan in South Carolina.

The evolution of the capsaicinoid-a compound found in peppers responsible for their unique heat-was likely a defense mechanism to deter hungry animals, reveals research from New Mexico State University. However, birds, unaffected by the heat due to their lack of similar taste receptors possessed by humans and other mammals, serve an important role in seed distribution.

The October 2023 coronation of Pepper X saw it triumph over the previous record-holder, the Carolina Reaper, also a brainchild of Currie. Metrics used to measure pepper spiciness, called Scoville Heat Units (SHU), rank Pepper X at a scorching 2.7 million SHU, while the Reaper topped at 2.2 million SHU, averaging 1.64 million SHU. For comparison, a jalapeño registers a modest 2,500 to 8,000 SHU, and cayenne pepper measures between 30,000 to 50,000 SHU. Currie continues his quest for heat, crossbreeding more than a 100 varieties each year, all in pursuit of creating the next hot sensation.

The extreme heat of these peppers doesn't deter spice enthusiasts. Sean Evans, host of "Hot Ones," and his guests were left teary-eyed after sampling the Pepper X. Currie himself confessed to feeling the heat for over three hours and suffering from intense cramps. In extreme cases, eating such fiery foods led to serious medical complications, including emergency room visits and revealed arterial constrictions and even an acute cerebellar stroke in extreme cases as reported by Newsweek and the National Center for Biotechnological Information.

Despite these warnings, heat thrill-seekers continue their culinary adventure. The League of Fire organizes chili-eating contests worldwide, validating winners based on specific criteria. Current champ Gregory “Iron Guts” Barlow consumed an astonishing 160 Reapers while Duston "Atomic Menace" Johnson is a close second with his record of eating 122 peppers.

The ranking of pepper spiciness, the Scoville scale, was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. The method involved taste-testing alcohol-based capsaicinoid extracts diluted with sugar water and ranking the perceived heat. Now, owing to advancements in technology, scientists employ High-Performance Liquid Chromatography to measure the capsaicin concentration in peppers more accurately, all the while still maintaining the traditional Scoville ranking system. At the top of the scale sits pure capsaicin with a formidable ranking of 16 million SHU.