Some of the super-hot peppers are quite frightening. Capsaicin is evidently neurotoxic to at least some developing mammals, damaging the formation of the same nerves that when fully formed respond to capsaicinoids by producing a burning sensation.
Medically it has a side effect in a certain % of the population of causing a rapid and strong blood pressure rise. This has been documented for low doses ingested for medical reasons, but can occur with any significant exposure. Stroke is a common result, and can be fatal. Companies selling Capsaicinoid product to military, police (and police forces themselves) spend a veritable shit-ton of money to keep this off of autopsy reports and Capsaicin related deaths are consistently recorded by police medical examiners as death from natural causes, even when it is the police themselves who are killed.
The alkaloid (capsaicin) elicits a dose dependent response and bodyweight is a crucial factor. Another medically documented aspect of Capsaicins toxicity which police forces and their suppliers keep off of autopsy reports is that the alkaloid easily kills babies, toddlers and small children, typically when they aspirate their own vomit. In fact if the dose is high enough it will kill most people. This is the reason there is a legal limit to the concentration of capsaicin that police can legally carry. However this merely means that a fatal dose takes more time to administer or absorb and this is well known to law enforcement and military personnel (across the planet) who, when torturing a person (to death) with capsaicin take steps to prevent the victim from being able to remove the alkaloid including using hoods to cover the face or removing clothing and spraying a nude person who does not have recourse to clean the alkaloid bearing material from themselves. Such episodes nearly always involve beating the victim as well and invariably become recorded as death by either natural causes or indeterminable. Many law enforcement specific forensic journals actually instruct police experts in how to present data to support a predetermined conclusion and create the illusion of certainty when dealing with matters of probability where certainty does not exist and numerous publications and studies of Capsaicin related deaths including of officers deploying the alkaloid address this. They however are not aimed at the general public and many deliberately crafted false perceptions about the safety of the use of Capsaicin exist.
It can be strongly lethal to some people, infants and small children in particular.
Small children should be warned against biting into the berries. The idea that the heat of the berry itself will teach them can and has resulted in dead children in the past. Some individuals have a strong vasopressor response to capsaicin (like Brian David Sicknick) they are not a large % of the population but they exist and capsaicin will kill them, it is only a matter of dose. Despite (so called) forensic experts claiming death by natural causes in such cases the medical literature shows such cases to be entirely consistent with death from capsaicin exposure.
And while is not medically ethical to terminate a human pregnancy and examine the brain of the developing child for damage to neurons from capsaicin.... when scientists give pregnant rats significant doses of capsaicin and terminate the pregnancy and examine the brain of the developing rodents they are able to observe that Capsaicin causes birth defects resulting in malformation of neurons.
It is extremely probable that Capsaicin is toxic to the sensitive developing neurons of a human fetus, the science indicates this. It is highly unethical to expose pregnant women, particularly in the early stages of pregnancy, to concentrated Capsaicin. Some chips and salsa is fine, but super-hot peppers are a new creation of humanity and concentrated capsaicin products are relatively new to the human experience.
Objective studies with human interest in mind have never historically been done by companies whose interest is making a profit.
Profits before people is the model of our society and the loss of access to accurate factual information is one of the prices we pay.
It is similar with poppy seeds, the grey coating of dark poppy seeds contains morphine-N oxides bound to polysaccharides as well as other alkaloid oxides. Darker seeds contain more morphine. The government is aware of these facts, published in decades past, however it officially states that poppy seeds do not contain morphine unless contaminated with it during the harvesting process and that seeds should be washed to remove any alkaloid that may have thus contaminated them. The facts are that washed or not, dark colored poppy seeds contain medically significant amounts of morphine (and other alkaloids like para-morphine, don't abuse poppy seeds, you'll regret it or your next of kin will) not the trace amounts that so called experts claim. A single poppy seed muffin won't just make you lose a drug test the next day, a blood test will show levels of alkaloids like morphine and codeine that will make a forensic examiner testify you could have only achieved such plasma levels through deliberate ingestion of contraband drugs, most likely heroin. However a couple of key chemical markers from heroin will be absent, and while a state forensic expert will not testify about that because it would hurt their case a private lab analysis and an objective medical expert will prove that the plamsa levels involved were not from heroin but were from a poppy seed muffin. I am not kidding whatsoever when I say that lives have been destroyed because of poppy seed muffins and forensic expert testimony.
However my point is safety and hazard management, for example if a pregnant mother eats a poppy seed muffin they do ingest a medically significant amount of opiate alkaloids and opiates are notoriously unhealthy for a developing fetus. However a low dose of opiate alkaloids, like a low dose of capsacinoids; involves virtually zero risk to a fetus. On the other hand both heroin and concentrated capsaicin involve a medically significant risk of developmental harm to a fetus, which is a growing living human being even if it can't be numbered and taxed by the state at the time. Poppy seeds have been eaten for over a thousand years, their safety however does not make heroin safe. The same is true for Capsicum peppers, they have been ingested safely for thousands of years, however that does not make Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) or similar products safe to use around woman, who may be pregnant and or young children. Likewise super-hot peppers may pose a genuine danger to young children, pregnant women, the elderly (who often are more sensitive to vasopressors) and individuals who respond to exposure with a strong and sudden rise in blood pressure.
In it's concentrated form Capsaicin is a potent and toxic chemical weapon of biological origin and should be respected as such. It is especially dangerous to pregnant women and very young children.
Having examined the medical literature, safety data and forensic publications on the topic I cannot condone or support the use of Capsaicin as a chemical weapon against human populations. It not only hurts those most worth protecting (infants and kids) but it is documented and known to kill a % of those who deploy it, which is arguably the most interesting aspect of police forensic journals on the subject, they are well aware that it (capsaicin) kills a number of officers who are exposed to it every year and great efforts are made (and monies paid) to try to minimize the risk to officers while at the same time concealing that risk not only to the public but to the officers themselves! One of main reasons that the law limits the strength of the OC that officers can carry is to minimize the risk of death to the officer.
It is evident that companies that supply military and law enforcement groups with Oleoresin Capsicum do not want there to be any risk of lawsuits when a percentage of officers exposed to their product die, and they do, but their deaths are recorded as either natural causes or indeterminable.
Anyone involved in growing and developing super-hot peppers or products involving them should be aware of these facts.
That the system won't honestly address the risk and harm doesn't mean they should be ignored.
I put people before profits.
Medically it has a side effect in a certain % of the population of causing a rapid and strong blood pressure rise. This has been documented for low doses ingested for medical reasons, but can occur with any significant exposure. Stroke is a common result, and can be fatal. Companies selling Capsaicinoid product to military, police (and police forces themselves) spend a veritable shit-ton of money to keep this off of autopsy reports and Capsaicin related deaths are consistently recorded by police medical examiners as death from natural causes, even when it is the police themselves who are killed.
The alkaloid (capsaicin) elicits a dose dependent response and bodyweight is a crucial factor. Another medically documented aspect of Capsaicins toxicity which police forces and their suppliers keep off of autopsy reports is that the alkaloid easily kills babies, toddlers and small children, typically when they aspirate their own vomit. In fact if the dose is high enough it will kill most people. This is the reason there is a legal limit to the concentration of capsaicin that police can legally carry. However this merely means that a fatal dose takes more time to administer or absorb and this is well known to law enforcement and military personnel (across the planet) who, when torturing a person (to death) with capsaicin take steps to prevent the victim from being able to remove the alkaloid including using hoods to cover the face or removing clothing and spraying a nude person who does not have recourse to clean the alkaloid bearing material from themselves. Such episodes nearly always involve beating the victim as well and invariably become recorded as death by either natural causes or indeterminable. Many law enforcement specific forensic journals actually instruct police experts in how to present data to support a predetermined conclusion and create the illusion of certainty when dealing with matters of probability where certainty does not exist and numerous publications and studies of Capsaicin related deaths including of officers deploying the alkaloid address this. They however are not aimed at the general public and many deliberately crafted false perceptions about the safety of the use of Capsaicin exist.
It can be strongly lethal to some people, infants and small children in particular.
Small children should be warned against biting into the berries. The idea that the heat of the berry itself will teach them can and has resulted in dead children in the past. Some individuals have a strong vasopressor response to capsaicin (like Brian David Sicknick) they are not a large % of the population but they exist and capsaicin will kill them, it is only a matter of dose. Despite (so called) forensic experts claiming death by natural causes in such cases the medical literature shows such cases to be entirely consistent with death from capsaicin exposure.
And while is not medically ethical to terminate a human pregnancy and examine the brain of the developing child for damage to neurons from capsaicin.... when scientists give pregnant rats significant doses of capsaicin and terminate the pregnancy and examine the brain of the developing rodents they are able to observe that Capsaicin causes birth defects resulting in malformation of neurons.
It is extremely probable that Capsaicin is toxic to the sensitive developing neurons of a human fetus, the science indicates this. It is highly unethical to expose pregnant women, particularly in the early stages of pregnancy, to concentrated Capsaicin. Some chips and salsa is fine, but super-hot peppers are a new creation of humanity and concentrated capsaicin products are relatively new to the human experience.
Objective studies with human interest in mind have never historically been done by companies whose interest is making a profit.
Profits before people is the model of our society and the loss of access to accurate factual information is one of the prices we pay.
It is similar with poppy seeds, the grey coating of dark poppy seeds contains morphine-N oxides bound to polysaccharides as well as other alkaloid oxides. Darker seeds contain more morphine. The government is aware of these facts, published in decades past, however it officially states that poppy seeds do not contain morphine unless contaminated with it during the harvesting process and that seeds should be washed to remove any alkaloid that may have thus contaminated them. The facts are that washed or not, dark colored poppy seeds contain medically significant amounts of morphine (and other alkaloids like para-morphine, don't abuse poppy seeds, you'll regret it or your next of kin will) not the trace amounts that so called experts claim. A single poppy seed muffin won't just make you lose a drug test the next day, a blood test will show levels of alkaloids like morphine and codeine that will make a forensic examiner testify you could have only achieved such plasma levels through deliberate ingestion of contraband drugs, most likely heroin. However a couple of key chemical markers from heroin will be absent, and while a state forensic expert will not testify about that because it would hurt their case a private lab analysis and an objective medical expert will prove that the plamsa levels involved were not from heroin but were from a poppy seed muffin. I am not kidding whatsoever when I say that lives have been destroyed because of poppy seed muffins and forensic expert testimony.
However my point is safety and hazard management, for example if a pregnant mother eats a poppy seed muffin they do ingest a medically significant amount of opiate alkaloids and opiates are notoriously unhealthy for a developing fetus. However a low dose of opiate alkaloids, like a low dose of capsacinoids; involves virtually zero risk to a fetus. On the other hand both heroin and concentrated capsaicin involve a medically significant risk of developmental harm to a fetus, which is a growing living human being even if it can't be numbered and taxed by the state at the time. Poppy seeds have been eaten for over a thousand years, their safety however does not make heroin safe. The same is true for Capsicum peppers, they have been ingested safely for thousands of years, however that does not make Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) or similar products safe to use around woman, who may be pregnant and or young children. Likewise super-hot peppers may pose a genuine danger to young children, pregnant women, the elderly (who often are more sensitive to vasopressors) and individuals who respond to exposure with a strong and sudden rise in blood pressure.
In it's concentrated form Capsaicin is a potent and toxic chemical weapon of biological origin and should be respected as such. It is especially dangerous to pregnant women and very young children.
Having examined the medical literature, safety data and forensic publications on the topic I cannot condone or support the use of Capsaicin as a chemical weapon against human populations. It not only hurts those most worth protecting (infants and kids) but it is documented and known to kill a % of those who deploy it, which is arguably the most interesting aspect of police forensic journals on the subject, they are well aware that it (capsaicin) kills a number of officers who are exposed to it every year and great efforts are made (and monies paid) to try to minimize the risk to officers while at the same time concealing that risk not only to the public but to the officers themselves! One of main reasons that the law limits the strength of the OC that officers can carry is to minimize the risk of death to the officer.
It is evident that companies that supply military and law enforcement groups with Oleoresin Capsicum do not want there to be any risk of lawsuits when a percentage of officers exposed to their product die, and they do, but their deaths are recorded as either natural causes or indeterminable.
Anyone involved in growing and developing super-hot peppers or products involving them should be aware of these facts.
That the system won't honestly address the risk and harm doesn't mean they should be ignored.
I put people before profits.
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Scoville’s and from what I’ve read is considered extremely toxic and not something you want any part of.