„I cannot reword“

Es ist nicht so, dass man nicht sieht, wie weh das tut: Mike Jack hechelt, kneift die Augen zusammen, wischt sich die Tränen von den Wangen. Der Kanadier hat eine ganz besondere Vorliebe – und damit jetzt einen Weltrekord aufgestellt. Innerhalb von 6:49 Minuten verspeiste Jack 50 Carolina Reapers, die laut Guinness Buch der Rekorde schärfsten Chilischoten der Welt. Er schlug damit seine eigene Bestzeit.

A video displays a Canadian wearing rubber gloves and a shirt that says „Mike Jack eats heat“. In front of him is a plate with a pile of chili peppers. As he puts them in his mouth one by one, chews, and struggles to swallow, fans in the background cheer him on.

After finishing his plate, Jack doesn’t stop. Following a brief pause, tears streaming down his face, he consumes an additional 85 peppers, as recorded in the Guinness Book.

In an interview with the Guinness Book of Records, Jack later said about the experience: „The first chili is the worst. The spiciness is a shock. The second one doesn’t seem as bad anymore, but each one after feels hotter and hotter because the chilies touch new areas in your mouth.“

Although he has developed a high tolerance for spiciness over the years, he still suffers after every eating competition. He experiences severe stomach cramps, feeling as if someone is squeezing and twisting his insides. Jack has to force himself to continue in these moments.

Die scharfen Schoten sind nicht ganz ungefährlich – besonders für Ungeübte. Erst vor Kurzem starb ein 14-Jähriger in den USA, nachdem er einen extrem scharfen Tortillachip gegessen hatte.

The Canadian Mike Jack, however, has been training for a long time and is well-known in the scene. He holds the record for consuming a bottle of hot sauce the fastest. In July, he also set a record together with his wife Jamie. Both of them ate a Habanero chili pepper, which is also considered extremely spicy. Then they kissed each other for exactly 15 minutes and 6.5 seconds.