Chilli champ’s burning desire for success

Asbestos-mouthed spice champion Gerald Fowler has vowed to scorch his international rivals by growing the fiercest chilli known to man.

Gerald, 54, held the Guinness World Record in 2012 when he cross-bred three of the world’s hottest varieties to create the Naga Viper chilli.

The married dad-of-one was left fuming when an Australian grower took his world crown last year with the evil Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chilli. Now he wants his title back.

Gerald, who runs his own business producing and selling chilli sauces and seeds, has created a Peruvian Red pod, which rates an astonishing 1,500,000 on the scoville spice scale.

The world’s most popular chillies, jalapenos, measure fewer than 5,000 scoville heat units (SHU) used to measure the heat of chillies.

He said: “We will have to get the Peruvian Red tested and see what it comes back as and then we will go to the Guinness Book Of Records. A lot of people are trying to beat us but we have been working hard to grow something different to get us back into the record books.”

Gerald was working as a web designer in 1994 when his late father Gerry was given a parrot named Murphy, whose favourite food was chilli. Gerry, who passed away 11 years ago, began to grow chilli plants as a hobby and gave one to his son.

Gerald became “fascinated” by the fiery pods and started researching growing chillis from experts in the US. He gave up his job four years later to launch a full time chilligrowing business with wife Diane and his 15yearold daughter and has since become embroiled in a nuclear arms race to create the world’s hottest.

The self-confessed chillinut, from CarkinCartmel, Cumbria, shot to fame in 2011 when he created the Naga Viper by crossbreeding three of the world’s hottest varieties.

And for those brave enough, he has featured the 1.35 millionscoville rated chilli in a tongueblistering curry for customers at his local, despite it being painful to eat.

It took the title of hottest chilli in the Guinness Book Of World Records after experts confirmed its strength. But his record was beaten four months later by the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, bred by Australia’s Hippy Seed Company and which still holds the official record.

Many growers claim to have grown hotter varieties since then and many have unofficially proved to be more spicy. Experts at Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Insitute have identified Trinidad’s Moruga Scorpion as the planet’s spiciest.

But Gerald, whose Chilli Pepper Company business has customers across the world, claims his expertise will help him reclaim his crown with the Peruvian Red.

He said: “You have to have an asbestos mouth to eat it. The heat in the chilli is in the oil and it doesn’t go away. Even if you drink milk, it is still seriously, seriously hot. We have a bit of an edge because we know what we have tried in the past.

“We have a special plant-breeder who has been doing all sorts of crosses to see whether we can get the hottest again. We are looking forward to finding out if we have.”