Two journalists were rushed to the hospital after they ate one of the world's spiciest burgers for a broadsheet story.
Arron Hendy and Ruari Barratt ate at the UK restaurant called Burger Off in Hove, Southern England. Each of them took a bite of the XXX Hot Chilli Burger which has a sauce spicier than a pepper spray. The burger is sold at $6.70. After a few minutes, Barratt started suffering from intense stomach pain and her started began to numb. His legs shook and his eyes rolled back in his head. Hendy seemed fine at first but two hours following his bite, he experienced the same symptoms Barratt did and proceeded to the hospital where Barratt was admitted.
"If you're lucky, you will see some poor sod, who thought the XXX Hot Chilli Burger would enhance his Macho status, to some very unfortunate end. Rolling in pain on the pavement, is not what you want your mates to remember and tease," a review of Burger Off reads on the website, Trip Advisor. Burger Off is a top-rated eatery on the website Trip Advisor. The burger was extremely spicy that the restaurant requires customers to sign a legal disclaimer before they can eat. Both Argus journalists signed this disclaimer before they tested the burger which contains a sauce of piri piri chilies. The sauce is made in India, using 11,000 lbs. of concentrated piri piri chilies turned to only 2.2 lbs.
"I was in so much pain I was telling people I felt like I was dying," Hendy said. "It's embarrassing but it felt that bad. If you're thinking of trying this burger for a dare, just don't." The warning does not deter customers even if many have already been hospitalized. XXX Hot Chilli Burger is not available to people below 18 years of age.
According to Nick Gambardella, owner of Burger Off, the sauce ranges from seven to nine million SHU on the spiciness measurement Scoville scale. This is spicier than police-grade pepper sprays which ranges from 500,000 to 5 million SHU. The Tabasco pepper sauce measures 2,500 to 5,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
