What is the hot pepper scale?

The hot pepper scale, also known as the Scoville scale, measures the potency of chili peppers and other spicy food. The scale assigns Scoville heat units, or SHUs, to foods as a unit of measurement.

As of 2015, the two hottest peppers on the Scoville scale are the Carolina Reaper, at 2,200,000 SHU, and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, at 2,009,231 SHU. Some other incredibly hot chili peppers on the scale include the Komodo Dragon Chili Pepper, Naga Viper Pepper and the Infinity Chili. For comparison, the common bell pepper has an SHU of 0, while the jalapeño has an SHU of 1,000 to 4,000.