The hot and spicy world of extreme foods

Sports, sex, makeovers—these days, anything and everything is extreme. This week, we’re sorry to say, we are learning about “extreme foods.” A guy in New Jersey named Blair Lazar is king of the category—he runs a company called, yes, Extreme Foods, and has just released a hot sauce that is reputed to be 30 times hotter than the spiciest pepper and 8,000 times stronger than Tabasco. “16 Million Reserve” (the figure refers to the sauce’s score on the “Scoville” heat index) is an ultra-refined version of chili powder.