Spicy burger sends journalists to hospital

Now we know a thing or two about burgers. Our year-long search for the UK's best meant that we tried a fair few of them.

But we can safely say that we've never encountered a burger so dangerous that it sent us to the hospital. This is mainly because we never visited Burger Off in Brighton.

Two journalists found out the hard way that this particular takeaway was renowned for sending customers to A&E. The fact that you have to sign a waiver before taking a bite is a pretty fair indication that you shouldn't dare enter.

Arron Hendy, assistant news editor of The Argus, and trainee reporter Ruari Barratt tried the infamous XXX Hot Chilli Burger which contains a sauce hotter than pepper spray. After trying the burger, both suffered severe stomach pains as well as losing feeling in their hands.

“I was in so much pain I was telling people I felt like I was dying," Hendy said. “It’s embarrassing but it felt that bad. If you’re thinking of trying this burger for a dare, just don’t.”

“It was hard to walk," Barratt told. "I needed to drink milk to neutralise the burning, which was hard because I was hyperventilating so much my hands had seized up."

The sauce in question is made in India and concentrates 5,000 kilos of piri piri chilis into one kilo.

Nick Gambardella, the owner, estimates that the sauce is between seven and nine million on the Scoville scale, which is used to rate how spicy food is. Pepper spray is around five million on that scale while tabasco sauce is just 5000.

So essentially you try and we'll watch, yeah?

[via The Argus]