Want to Try Our Insanely Spicy Pizza with Hate Sausage? First, Sign the Waiver
Jordan Edmonds, who likes spicy food, decided to try the special at a friend’s birthday dinner recently at Mikey’s Late Night Slice in Columbus, Ohio. The “Fiery Death with Hate Sausage” was a pizza loaded with a mix of peppers including Bhut Jolokias, Trinidad Moruga Scorpions and Carolina Reapers—three of the world’s hottest—and a helping of spicy sausage. But first, Mr. Edmonds and his friends had to sign a waiver acknowledging they were each “an idiot” for trying the pizza and absolving the restaurant of any responsibility for what might happen after they consumed it.
(snip)
He started to sweat after a single bite. His eyes welled up, and his nose ran. The back of his throat burned. No drink could wash away the pain. One friend who also took a bite, Allison Meena, sobbed as she ditched her beer and frantically searched for water: “My body kind of shut down,” she said.
Intrepid diners are asking for more fiery dishes in all sorts of cuisines. As it happens, few can handle it, and establishments who don’t want to be responsible for their customers’ audacity are making diners sign waivers to warn them and preempt trouble stemming from increasingly hot concoctions.
(snip))
At Hopdoddy Burger Bar, customers trying its spicy special have to sign a waiver to make sure they know “it is one hot burger,” said head chef Mark Adair. The Texas-based chain has served a series of spicy burgers in recent years, struggling to keep up with demand for hotter flavors.
The most recent, served over the summer of 2017, added sliced Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” peppers to a cheeseburger already loaded with Bhut Jolokias—known as “ghost” peppers—habaneros, serranos and jalapeños. Mr. Adair said he couldn’t eat one. “I’d be stuck in my bedroom for about a week.”
Annual American consumption of chile peppers rose a third to more than 7 pounds per person from 2000 to 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest data. Half of consumers say they prefer very spicy foods and sauces over moderate or unspicy alternatives, according to a survey by consultancy Technomic Inc. Aging consumers want spice to stimulate less-sensitive taste buds, said managing principal Joe Pawlak, while younger ones have grown up with a more global palate.
(snip)
Few customers realize how spicy these dishes can be, restaurateurs say. A ghost pepper, for example, ranks at around 1 million Scoville Heat Units, the standard measure of a chile pepper’s heat level. That’s dozens of times hotter than a typical jalapeño. Trinidad Moruga Scorpions and Carolina Reapers are even spicier. J. Mateo Baker, who enjoys spicy food, tried a plate of Reaper wings at Fogbelt Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, Calif. on a dare. He thought little of it—until the staff gave him a waiver to sign. “I’ve never been handed a waiver before,” said the 41-year-old media producer. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
(snip)
Attorneys say the waivers could potentially be useful if a customer took legal action, to show diners were warned and knew what they were getting into. A couple sued the owners of a restaurant, a waiter and a sauce maker on behalf of their son, after he ended up in a hospital in 2009 when allegedly served an ultra-spicy sauce without warning in Cleveland, Tenn. The parties settled out of court.
(snip)
One man was hospitalized for 23 days with a tear in his esophagus after participating in a ghost-pepper eating contest, according to doctors writing in the Journal of Emergency Medicine in 2016.
Connie Martinez, manager of Chunky’s Burger & More in San Antonio, said distressed customers call ambulances to the restaurant a few times a year after trying its 4 Horsemen burger, made with four kinds of peppers. There’s usually little paramedics can do other than check diners’ vital signs and soothe them, she said. Some are given antacids. Some come down with nosebleeds and hiccups, she said. One started doing push-ups to distract himself from the pain.
More..
https://www.wsj.com/articles/want-fiery-death-with-hate-sausage-pizza-first-sign-the-waiver-1516204616
====
Not me!
= new reply since forum marked as read
I saw an Indian cuisine chef on TV many years ago saying that it is oils in chillis that provide the heat, therefore water has little effect as an antidote. He recommended drinking milk.
However, as Indian cuisine foodies will be aware of, a common side-dish is raita (yohurt based) , which also fulfils a calming effect for countering the hotter dishes.
When out with the lads for a curry night, it never stopped us insisting on several pints of beer, as an excuse, though. 
