“What I love is he’s a foodie, he doesn’t just do it because it’s ‘cool’ to eat a lot of peppers, he really loves food, he loves flavor.” “I’m a total wimp, but I’m getting better, but there’s several of his sauces I still haven’t even tried,” she said. A love for spicy foods is one hobby the couple doesn’t share. Julia Foster, Greg’s wife of 17 years, said he has always liked spicy food, but his passion for it bloomed about a decade ago when his brother sent him pepper seeds to grow in a community garden. Currently at the top of the League of Fire’s Reaper Challenge for most Carolina Reapers eaten in one sitting is Las Vegas resident Dustin Johnson, who ate 122 peppers at a weight of 706 grams, according to the league’s website. If Foster’s attempt on Saturday is approved by the league, the 282 grams of chilis he ate will move him from sixth to fourth place. That makes the mildest Carolina Reaper 140 times hotter than the spiciest jalapeño. By comparison, a jalapeño only has 2,500 to 10,000 Scoville heat units, according to Colorado State University. Measured at 1.4 million to 2.2 million Scoville heat units - the scale used to measure chili pungency - Carolina Reapers are the world’s hottest pepper, according to Chili Pepper Madness. The Rancho Peñasquitos resident and Inferno Farms Hot Sauce Company founder was attempting to eat 123 Carolina Reapers to take the top spot in the League of Fire among internationally ranked chili eaters.īut after eating 44 chilis, grown locally on his farm, the 6-foot-5-inch tall Foster was brought down to his knees in a fit of expletives and tears before throwing in the towel - and throwing up the contents of his stomach in the privacy of a pop-up tent.
San Diego is experiencing a heatwave this week, and so are the taste buds of Greg Foster, who ate dozens of the world’s hottest chilis in Seaport Village Saturday.