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The hot pepper challenge (also ghost pepper challenge or chili pepper challenge) is a viral internet food challenge that involves filming oneself while eating and swallowing a chili pepper that is high on the Scoville scale and known for its pungent qualities, in particular the Habanero, Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper) and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper. The video should then be uploaded to the Internet.
The videos generally show the different stages the participant in the challenge goes through. In the introduction the challenger introduces him- or herself and states the proposed challenge, shows the pepper and its qualities and often takes precautionary measures like setting out a large quantity of milk which helps relieve and cope with the burning sensation in the mouth and throat. Then the pepper is eaten. After a short while the extreme heat or burning sensation and profuse sweating is experienced by the challenger, caused by the pepper's capsaicin and related capsaicinoids. Sometimes vomiting and hallucinations are induced by eating the pepper and often milk is consumed.
The challenge has a small number of reported cases of problems or health scares. In one such instance, a man in an eating contest involving ghost peppers suffered great harm as "doctors found that the man's throat was torn and his left lung had collapsed." In September 2016, five children from a school in West Milton, Ohio were hospitalized after eating ghost peppers as part of a challenge.There is also an account of a 47 year old man who was sent to the Emergency Room after consuming a hamburger topped with Ghost Pepper puree. Later reports revealed that his esophagus ruptured due to intensity of the pepper.
Hot pepper challenges have been featured on television series including Man v. Food.