The heat was on at a chilli-eating competition in Dunedin last night, contestants chewing through tear-jerking amounts of some of the world's hottest chilli varieties.
Seventeen contestants with a penchant for hot food braved the Dunedin ''heat'' of the New Zealand Chilli Eating Champs at The Church last night, the last man or woman standing invited to compete in a national final to be held in Auckland in July.
Competitors were faced with some of the world's hottest chilli varieties, including the bhut jolokia, or ''ghost pepper'', which is roughly 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.
The variety of chilli got tougher each round, the contestants beginning to show signs of pain - letting out yelps, shedding tears and sweating - by the second round, when they were fed ''Thai hots''.
Among those competing was the top-placed woman at last year's national final, Daina ''Insaner'' Voselas.
Speaking before the competition started, Ms Voselas, who came sporting devil horns and face paint, said eating the hottest chilli varieties was ''extremely painful'' and she expected to still be in ''agony'' today.
She kept chewing through the pain because eating chillies was her ''talent'' and she did not want to let it go to waste.
The event was organised by Fire Dragon Chillies, which claims to produce New Zealand's hottest chilli sauces.
The eventual winner was Thomas Carberry, who narrowly beat Ms Voselas.
