The hottest sauce in the world

Six years ago a new chilli sauce went on sale that was so hot it could kill.

Ultra-concentrated 16 Million Reserve is the hottest dressing science can make - an incredible 8,000 times more fiery than Tabasco.

Locked in a crystal bottle sealed with wax and a tiny skull, the concoction, created by Blair Lazar, is pure capsaicin - the chemical that gives habanero and jalapeno peppers their atomic heat.

Too hot to handle?

Diners in New Jersey, US, have to sign a disclaimer recommending they wear protective gloves and eye wear before sampling 16 Million Reserve, known as the 'brass ring' of hot sauces. It is said to be 30 times hotter than the hottest pepper, the Red Savino from Mexico.

Medical experts fear the sauce is so dangerous it could kill asthmatics or hospitalise anyone who touches a sensitive part of the body afterwards.

But don't worry, if you are new to the game and browsing the shelves of a supermarket, you're unlikely to feel the heat.

It’s the home-made varieties you need to be wary of, and these are not readily available on the high street.

Origins of hot sauce

Chilli pepper plants have been around for 100,000 years and are believed to be among the earliest cultivated plants in the world.

Evidence shows that chilli peppers were domesticated and eaten as hot flavouring in South America at least 6,000 years ago.

More recently, the first commercially bottled cayenne sauces appeared in Massachusetts in 1807. The first recorded crop of tabasco chillies was in 1849, grown by a prominent Louisiana banker and legislator, Colonel Maunsell White.

A little later, between 1918 and 1928, a whole range of manufacturers turned their hand to fiery sauces, with Crystal Hot Sauce one famous creation.

Then after the great depression, La Victoria introduced its innovative red taco sauce, green taco sauce and enchilada sauces - the first of their kind in the US.

Measuring the world's hottest sauces

Some like it hot, some like it hotter, and it's no surprise that names such as Vicious Vapour, Mad Dog and Satan's blood should appear on the list of hottest sauces.

Over the past decade or so, manufacturers have taken the humble chilli pepper and distilled it into ever more fiery mixes.

The heat is rated in Scoville units - a method developed by Wilbur Scoville just over one hundred years ago.

Benign bell peppers rate zero Scoville units, but at the other end of the scale, the Red Savina is in the Guinness World Records at 570,000 units.

The original method used human tasters to evaluate how long it took to neutralise the hotness, but nowadays, us mere mortals are spared and a more scientific process measures the spice.

Bringing the heat

But if volunteers were required, look no further than consultant radiologist Ian Rothwell, from Lincolnshire, UK.

In 2012 he became the first person to finish the world's hottest curry. The doctor took over an hour to eat 'The Widower' curry, which tops six million units on the Scoville Scale and is hotter than a drink of anti-riot tear gas.

The curry, which is filled with 20 Naga Infinity chillies, is known for its hallucinogenic qualities, as Mr Rothwell discovered part way through his meal.

But he succeeded where others had failed - around 300 diners had previously tried to finish the dish without success.

So despite the risk, it seems nothing can quash our fascination with the hot stuff and our unquenchable desire to take on the hottest sauces in the world.

Can you handle your hot sauce? Which varieties are your favourite? Or do you prefer lemonade and a bowl of ice cream?