Howell grower disputes Pepper X’s record for world’s hottest pepper

PEPPER WARS

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  • Howell pepper grower Ryan Karcher grows Friar’s Fury chilis in pots in his backyard. Inset photo, the orange coloring of Friar’s Fury indicates a high maximum heat level. DANIEL SCHOENHERR
    Howell pepper grower Ryan Karcher grows Friar’s Fury chilis in pots in his backyard. Inset photo, the orange coloring of Friar’s Fury indicates a high maximum heat level. DANIEL SCHOENHERR

    LANSING

    Guinness World Records recently announced that the world’s new hottest pepper is a veggie known as Pepper X, grown in South Carolina.

    But Ryan Karcher, a veteran pepper grower from Howell, questions Pepper X’s reported heat measurement. And he says he has developed a pepper that’s tastier and more representative of the pepper community.

    It will be featured in a Jan. 22 television show called …