World’s Hottest Chile Pepper

I love hot peppers. Jalapenos, they are like candy. Cayenne, they give my soups a nice zip. Habaneros, now you're getting warmer. The folks from the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University have found a pepper that puts them all to shame.
The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion apparently lives up to it's dangerous sounding name. Peppers produce a compound that gives off heat called "capsaicinoids." In some cases, the capsaicinoids from the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion were so strong that they burned through the latex gloves of researchers.

The rating system used to measure the heat from peppers is called "The Scoville Scale." An average jalapeno pepper rates 5,000 units on the Scoville scale. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion incinerates that with an average of 1.2 million heat units.

You may be wondering, "do people actually eat these volcanic vegetables?" The answer is yes. Paul Bosland, the Chile Pepper Institute's Director says, "you take a bite. It doesn't seem so bad. Then it builds and builds. So it is quite nasty."
Although eating a whole Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper can leave your mouth numb for several days, the flavor of the pepper is supposedly quite delicious. It is not only the world's hottest, but is attracting attention from the spicy food industry for it's flavor and heat. A little goes a long way. Sauces are already being made of this liquid lava.

Take a real good look at the picture of the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper. If someone wants to bet you that you can't eat one, make sure the payoff is worth the pain. There will be pain.
chilepepperinstitute.org