Mike Jack now has 19 career Guinness World Records.
The former London, Ont. native who now lives in Nova Scotia ate nearly 1.5 kilograms of hot sauce at the Heatwave Hot Sauce Expo at Centennial Hall on Saturday to set a new mark.
“I held the record previously at, 1.12kg but it’s since been beat,” said Jack.
“The current record was 1.18kg and I ended up getting 1.495 kilograms. If you convert it to pounds, it’s like three-and-a-quarter pounds of hot sauce or about a 12-pack of sauce.”
Jack makes a living selling his brand of hot sauce, travelling to shows and festivals as well as doing YouTube and social media. There were strict rules around his latest record.
“The hot sauce had to be in a bowl and I can’t touch the bowl with my hands,” said Jack. “I can’t pick it up and you have to use a teaspoon. So it’s all on the wrist. You got to scoop it up in your in your mouth and swallow fast.”
He describes the skill as having to have a combination of speed, capacity and tolerance to the heat.
“I’ve been practicing pretty hard for this record for like a month-and-a-half now to make sure I get it back.”
He’s been building up his tolerance to hot sauce for years, putting it on his food like people would use ketchup. When he found out people were setting records, he jumped in.
“I’m pretty used to spicy stuff doing a lot of the records, so it wasn’t really the heat of it that got you, but it was just like the capacity,” said Jack, describing the feeling after finishing 1.5 kg of sauce.
“I’m just really full. It felt like I overdid it at Thanksgiving - like I went back for thirds or something like that. I was just, just super bloated and I don’t think I could fit anything else in there.”
He has many different records.
Some of the most unique ones are ‘Fastest time eating a head of lettuce,’ ‘Fastest time eating a banana with no hands,’ ‘Fastest time to drink a litre of tomato sauce’ and ‘Most almonds eaten in a minute.’
He also has records for eating Carolina Reapers and Ghost Peppers.
There was no representative present from Guinness, so he needed officials to verify the time.
He used a local MP, MPP and London City Councillor to witness the mark.
“We get them to read the rules and watch the record,” said Jack.
“I send a video with their statements and then it’ll become an official Guinness World Record.”
