ZAPPING OUR TASTE BUDS WITH HOT SAUCE.
The Osgood File. Sponsored in part by Auto Owners Insurance, the No Problem People. Visit AutoOwners.Com. This is Charles Osgood.
These days, people read labels carefully when they buy food products. There are truth-in-labeling laws now.
That being the case, would you ever buy - much less swallow - the product our CBS News colleague Jeff Glor has investigated?
VO - Jeff Glor, CBS News Correspondent
"On the floor of this Baltimore factory, Blair Lazar brews a sweat-inducing, mouth-melting concoction of chili peppers: Blair's Death Sauce." (:09)
SOT - Blair Lazar
"You're talking about the most potent, powerful, intense ingredients on Planet Earth." (:04)
That's Blair Lazar himself.
Seventy-five percent of his "Death Sauce" is sold elsewhere on the Planet Earth - but oddly enough, he's convincing more and more people here to try it, too.
He tells them...
SOT - Blair Lazar
"It's a way to suddenly feel different. Everything's suddenly a little bit brighter - maybe a lot of bit brighter." (:06)
More after this...
((( BREAK )))
Blair Lazar began experimenting with hot chili pepper sauces in 1989, says Jeff Glor.
VO - Jeff Glor
"...As a young bartender - trying to force lingering customers to leave at closing time. Today, he can't keep them away." (:07)
Why is that, do you suppose?
Professor Paul Rozin of the University of Pennsylvania wondered about that, too.
SOT - Prof. Paul Rozin, University of Pennsylvania - with Jeff Glor
"(Rozin:) I was interested in why people would eat something that tasted so bad. It's sort of like your mouth is gonna peel off when you eat it. (Glor:) Is it a form of punishment that people are enjoying? (Rozin:) I call it 'benign masochism' - it's not punishment, it's a sort of mind over body. It's, 'I'm smarter than my body.'" (:18)
Turns out it's all about a substance called Capsaicin - which is what makes all chili peppers hot, says Jeff Glor.
VO - Jeff Glor
"The heat of a dish is measured on something called the Scoville Scale. At the top - 16 million units - is pure Capsaicin. Pepper spray used by police measures two million. And while Original Tabasco is 5,000 units, Lazar's Ultra Death Sauce - featuring habanero - reaches around a million." (:19)
Even so, it does not actually take the top of your head off.
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network. |
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