Chef dies after eating 'super hot' chilli

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Chef dies after eating 'super hot' chilli

An aspiring chef died after eating a "super hot" chilli sauce in a competition with his girlfriend's brother, an inquest in England has heard.

Andrew Lee, 33, challenged his girlfriend's brother to a contest on September 19 to see who could make and eat the hottest sauce, London's The Times reported.

The forklift driver from Edlington, West Yorkshire in England, made a tomato sauce with red chillies grown by his father, but after eating it suffered intense discomfort and itching.

Mr Lee went to bed and asked his girlfriend, Samantha Bailey, to scratch his back until he fell asleep.

When she woke in the morning he was dead, possibly after suffering a heart attack, The Guardian said.

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Paramedics were called to the home but were unable to revive Mr Lee, who was lying on the floor, The Telegraph reported.

Toxicology tests will be conducted to establish if he suffered a reaction to the food. Mr Lee was in perfect health and just passed a medical examination at work, the inquest heard.

Mr Lee's sister, Claire Chadbourne, 29, said he took a jar of the sauce to his girlfriend's home and challenged her brother Michael, 29, to a competition to see who could eat it.

"Andrew just ate the chillies with a plate of Dolmio sauce. It was not a proper meal because he had already eaten lamb chops and potato mash after work," she said.

"He apparently got into bed at 2.30am and started scratching all over. His girlfriend ... woke up and he had gone. It is incredible. Who would have thought he could have died from eating chilli sauce?"

She said a post-mortem examination showed no heart problems.

"He loved cooking for his friends. He always said he wanted to be a chef but didn't want to start at the bottom."

The inquest was adjourned.

smh.com.au

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