Masochists Wanted: Do You Have the Guts to Win Our Annual Hot Chili Pepper Eating Comp?

Tom Arnstein | Apr 4, 2019 6:00 pm | Add a comment | 986 reads

Calling all masochists! It's our favorite time of year again; when Beijing's bravest, toughest, and perhaps stupidest people duke it out by stuffing nature's answer to napalm-covered glass into their mouths, purely for bragging rights. Come one, come all to witness the spectacle that is La Costeña's Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest!

As with last year, the competition, now in its eighth year, will form the sizzling jewel in the fire-scorched crown of our Hot & Spicy Festival, taking place on Apr 20-21 at Galaxy Soho. However, in order to consider it a successful event, we must first find 20 willing victims (ten per day) – individuals crazy enough to wolf down ten rounds of increasingly hot chili peppers sourced from around the world, feared for their abilities to maim the mouth and insides of their hosts, all in front of thousands of chili-devouring fans vying to see blazing-red heads roll.

Sound like a fun day out? You're exactly the person we need.

If you have the asbestos mouth that it takes – and seriously, we're only looking for people who enjoy eating spicy food and think they can handle the pain – then shoot us an email to marketing@truerun.com by midnight on Sunday, Apr 14 and include your full name, nationality, and phone number and we'll be in touch.

To get you salivating ahead of the big sweatdown, here are some fun facts about chilies:

  • Our mouths burn when eating chilies because the bioactive compound found in them, capsaicin, binds with pain receptors and imitates the feeling of what it might be like to say, eat a ball of fire.
  • Only mammals are sensitive to the burning effect caused by capsaicin, allowing birds to eat them and spread the chili's seeds.
  • Some studies have shown that eating red chili pepper can significantly increase fat burning as well as reduce your body's calorie intake.
  • Finally, chili pepper has been seen to both increase and decrease the risk of cancer (for the sake of the competition, we'll ignore that first part).

Let the best chili-eating mofo win!

Read all of this year's Hot & Spicy Festival related content here.

Images: Uni You, the Beijinger