Carolina Reaper, so hot consumers are advised to wear gloves to handle it, goes on sale in supermarkets on Wednesday

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

As the UK swelters in the sunshine, fans of the fresh chilli pepper are preparing for culinary meltdown as the hottest in the world goes on sale on the high street for the first time.

The legendary Carolina Reaper is so mouth-numbingly hot that consumers are advised to wear gloves when handling it and will be available in British supermarkets from Wednesday.

Officially the hottest chilli pepper in the world according to Guinness World Records, it is also the first time it has been grown commercially in the UK, at a specialist farm in Bedfordshire.

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Guinness World Records records the Carolina Reaper as scoring an average 1.5m Scoville units – the official measure of chilli potency. But another independent test has put it at an even higher 2.2m.

In comparison, the lively jalapeño pepper measures a mere 3,500, while the very hot Scotch bonnet is rated as being up to 350,000 Scoville units.

Last year Tesco launched the notoriously fiery Komodo Dragon, which measured up to an eye-watering 1.4m Scoville units and has since become the supermarket’s most popular chilli.

“The Carolina Reaper is absolute meltdown material – it’s one for absolute hot food connoisseurs,” said the Tesco chilli pepper buyer Phoebe Burgess. “Despite it being astonishingly hot it also has a wonderful fruity taste. Only a sliver is needed to add exciting flavour to your favourite curry.”

Since launching the Komodo Dragon, the supermarket had been inundated with requests from customers to see if it could go one better, she said.

The Carolina Reaper is grown by the UK’s largest producer of chilli peppers, Salvatore Genovese, whose seven-acre farm is based in Blunham, Bedfordshire.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grower Salvatore Genovese with his Komodo Dragon chilli peppers. Photograph: Tesco

Genovese started growing chilli peppers 15 years ago after he took over his parents’ cucumber business. Since then they have become so popular that he produces about 1m, or 15 tonnes, each week just to satisfy UK demand.

“Chilli pepper culture has become very popular in the UK over the last five years and on the back of the acclaim I’ve received from supplying Tesco I now get requests from all over the world,” Genovese said. “The fantastic success of the Komodo Dragon proved that Brits are among the world’s greatest lovers of chilli peppers. But I wonder if the Carolina Reaper will test British palates just a touch too much?”