Man Sets New World Record for Eating the Most Ghost Peppers in One Minute
Hot-pepper-scarfing speed-eater Gregory Foster ate 17 Ghost peppers in 60 seconds, collecting his third world record.
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Hot news: Gregory Foster has done it again.
It’s just been a few months since news broke that the hot-sauce company owner claimed a Guinness World Record for eating three scorching-hot Carolina Reaper chili peppers in the least amount of time (8.72 seconds!). That world record, which Foster actually snapped in December 2021, was his second: In 2016, Foster collected his first hot-pepper-related world record for consuming the most Carolina Reaper peppers (120 grams) in one minute.
Now word has hit that Foster has broken a third hot-pepper-speed-eating record: This time, he collected the crown for eating the most Ghost peppers (a.k.a. Bhut Jolokia chili peppers, which register 1 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU) per pepper. For comparison, jalapenos range from 2,500-8,000 SHU) in one minute. And the number of peppers Foster put away was seriously sizzling: 17 peppers, tipping the scales at a total of 110.5 grams (3.98 ounces), and unseating previous record holder, Mike Jack, of London, Ontario, Canada, who ate 97 grams (3.42 ounces) of the peppers in March 2019.
Foster, it turns out, set the new Ghost-pepper-scarfing record on November 14, 2021, but news of his fast-eating feat has only just hit, thanks to a video Guinness World Records just posted on YouTube in which Foster’s minute-long record-breaking Ghost-pepper-chili-eating session can be watched in full.
In the video, Foster’s concentration and capsaicin tolerance are apparent. Wearing gloves to protect his hands, a tie-dyed Inferno Farms T-shirt, and a remarkably neutral and admirably focused expression, Foster tucks pepper after pepper into his mouth, chewing and swallowing them as he goes, as a man holding a timer stands by.
(“I've got a good poker face!” Foster told Food Network after setting his previous record.)
When the time is up, Foster shows off his empty mouth and waits to drink.
Told that he has beaten the record for most Bhut Jolokia chili peppers eaten in a minute, Foster says what you’d imagine anyone would in that situation: “Oh, thank God!” he exclaims, still looking rather pained and not venturing to break a smile.
As he guzzles a Pepto Bismol-pink liquid with a half-and-half chaser, followed by some milk, one of the people who has witnessed Foster successfully complete his record attempt in a public park in San Diego, asks him how he feels.
“I’m on fire,” he replies.
Foster, who has dedicated himself for decades to increasing his tolerance for spicy foods, apparently eventually recovered enough to tell Guinness that the record attempt was “a personal challenge to see how far I can push myself and my love of the super hot peppers.”
Even so, Foster was pretty chill about his new record, telling Guinness he very much enjoyed eating chilis and pushing his boundaries.
"As a chili lover, I’ve been trying to advance the awareness and the excitement surrounding the super-hot chilis out there,” he said. “This attempt was solely a personal endeavor to achieve another Guinness World Record alongside my currently standing [ones].”
What hot-chili-pepper-speed-eating challenge will Foster tackle next? Who knows? But someone, please, ready the Pepto Bismol, half-and-half and milk!
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