Iceland launches world’s ‘spiciest food range’ but says it’s ‘only for women’

The supermarket has unveiled its new range of ultra-spicy food but advises that men should stay away as women are ‘more likely to be able to handle the heat’

Iceland has claimed it’s made the world’s “spiciest food range” but warned only women should try it. The supermarket unveiled the “record-breaking” collection of dishes, but advised men should avoid trying any, “for their own good”.

A national study revealed although twice as many men think they can handle spicy food better than women, it is actually women who are able to stay calm and endure the pain. In fact, the data shows that two in five (40%) of men admit to having left a table due to food being too spicy, compared with 27% of women. The study surveyed 2,000 UK adults.

Iceland’s new range is centred around the Guinness World Recording-holding Pepper X® chilli, which measures 2.69 million Scovilles. The chilli is more than 53,000% hotter than a jalapeño, the supermarket claimed. The dishes on offer include spicy double pepperoni pizza slices, chicken wings, korma and vindaloo curries and even fiery ice cream.

The supermarket explained that due to a “genetic higher tolerance and endurance for certain types of pain”, only women should try the range initially as they are “more likely to be able to handle the heat”.

A gastrophysicist at the University of Oxford, professor Charles Spence, said: “After spending a number of years studying the multisensory delights of chilli and spices, it is really interesting to look at the gender differences in the chemical senses of spice tolerance.”

Spence added: “Experiences such as labour and childbirth are feats of pain endurance men simply can’t compare to and are scientifically proven to increase pain thresholds in women. If women are able to get through that, then suffering through the pain of a fiery chilli pales in comparison.”

Iceland isn’t restricting sales of the dishes to just women, the brand is “openly recommending caution” that the Pepper X® range “may simply be too hot for some men to handle”. However, to buy any of the dishes you may need to present ID as it is only available to over-18s.

Iceland Foods’ chief commercial officer Paul Dhaliwal, said: “This isn’t just spicy food, it’s a pepper-powered personality test. Science says women are genetically better built to handle the heat, so we’re issuing a warning: gents, this one’s too hot to handle. If you think you can take it, prove it, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

The creator of Pepper X®, Ed Currie, said it was designed to “push the limits of food spice and really challenge people, to see who really can handle the heat”.

The new range features a Double Pepperoni Pizza Slice for £2.50, Chicken Wings for £4, Chicken Korma and Rice for £4, Vindaloo Curry and Rice for £4 and Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream, also for £4.