Some people like it extra spicy and some like it slightly spicy, how do we pick a chili sauce that suits our needs in the face of different spiciness levels?

The fragrant chili sauce is especially good for rice, a few spoons. But have you ever thought about how much oil and salt you might eat for every spoonful of chili sauce?

In February 2020, Consumer Reports sent 12 hot chili sauce products to an authoritative third-party testing agency to find out for you.

Test Products

Test index

Spiciness: It can be divided into 5 levels, which are extra spicy (≥50 degrees), heavy spicy (30~50 degrees), medium spicy (17~30 degrees), slightly spicy (8~17 degrees), and light spicy (3~8 degrees).

Oil and sodium content: Excessive intake of oil and sodium (salt) is closely related to the occurrence of hyperlipidemia and hypertension.

Test Results

1, only the British tide tiger gang devil extra spicy chili sauce belongs to the "extra spicy" level, reaching 143 degrees, which is nearly three times the limit of extra spicy (≥ 50 degrees), consumers who can not eat too spicy may be spicy into the "sausage mouth".

2、The second ranking of spiciness is Maude Gong, with a spiciness factor of 43, reaching the level of heavy spiciness (30~50 degrees).

3, Tan Tan Xiang, Laughing Chef, Lao Gan Ma, Master Rice and other spicy degree between 6 ~ 16 degrees, only "light spicy" and "slightly spicy" level, with the Ying Chao Tiger Gang and Maude Gong is too far away!

4, Lao Gan Ma, laughing kitchen fat content is high, respectively, 72.6 %, 58.5%; Kitchen State, Haitian, Li Jinji and other 4 fat for 0.

5, Haitian sodium content up to 5233 mg/100g, comparable to soy sauce; Laughing Chef taste lighter, sodium content of 780mg / 100g.

The maximum difference in spiciness is 137 degrees!

In most restaurants in the Hong Kong area, there are up to 12 levels of spiciness, so any discerning eater can find the "spice" he or she is looking for.

In the new national standard of "Chili Sauce" (consultation draft), there are 5 levels of spiciness in chili sauce: lightly spicy (3~8 degrees), slightly spicy (8~17 degrees), medium spicy (17~30 degrees), heavily spicy (30~50 degrees) and extra spicy (≥50 degrees).

Experts pointed out that the tongue and mouth feel extremely mild irritation, which is light spicy; slightly spicy is manifested as the tongue and mouth can feel a little bit of irritation burning sensation after consumption; if the tongue and mouth appear obvious irritation burning sensation, and some people have runny nose and tears, which is medium spicy; for extra spicy, most people will have runny nose and tears, only a very small number of people can consume this spicy degree.

The 12 chili sauces are not marked with spiciness, so, as consumers will buy chili sauce that is not suitable for their taste?

The test found that the highest spiciness of Yingchao Tiger Gang, reaching 143 degrees, is the minimum limit of extra spicy (≥ 50 degrees) nearly three times, consumers who can not eat too spicy may be spicy into the "sausage mouth".

The spiciness of Maude Gong reaches 43 degrees, which is a heavy spicy level, but it is 100 degrees different from Yingchao Tiger Gang. However, as a southern chili sauce, it performs quite well.

The spiciness of Xinhe and Ji Xiangju is 22 and 20 degrees respectively, which are medium spicy level; the spiciness of Lao Ganma, Tan Tan Xiang, Laughing Kitchen and Kitchen State, which are more familiar to consumers, is between 10 and 16 degrees, which are light spicy; the spiciness of Wind Ball Mark, Haitian and Master Rice is slightly spicy.

Capsaicin is the main component of the spicy taste of chili peppers, it is mainly soluble in oil and less soluble in water, so the chili sauce made by cooking with oil will have more capsaicin dissolved out, and thus the spiciness will be higher.

If you accidentally eat a spicy chili sauce, then you can drink some milk to relieve the spiciness, because milk has a high fat content, which can dissolve the capsaicin in the mouth.

Lao Gan Ma has a 76% fat content

Chili sauce can be broadly divided into two categories, one is oil chili and the other is non-oil chili.

Oil chili peppers are usually produced using a high-temperature frying process, which is more popular with consumers, but the "richness" of the oil is also a health hazard.

The Chinese Nutrition Society believes that excessive fat intake can easily cause excess energy and lead to obesity, and can also increase the incidence of chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia.

Referring to the recommendations of the GB28050-2011 General Guidelines for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, the daily fat intake of normal adults should not exceed 60g as appropriate.

Of the 12 samples, seven belonged to oil chili peppers, namely Master Rice, Laughing Chef, Xinhe, Yingchao Tiger Gang, Jixiangju, Lao Ganma, and Mao De Gong, while the remaining five were non-oil chili pepper sauce.

The test showed that the fat content of seven oil chili peppers ranged from 20g/100g to 72.6g/100g, with Jixiangju being lower at 20g/100g; Lao Ganma and Laughing Chef reaching 72.6 g/100g and 58.5 g/100g respectively.

Taking Lao Gan Ma as an example, consumers can consume 14.5g of fat for one spoonful (about 20g) of chili sauce, which accounts for 24% of the daily intake limit.

If all three meals a day are consumed, plus animal fat and cooking fats, then there is a risk of excessive fat intake (over 60g).

Unexpectedly, among the five non-oil chili peppers, all the other four contained zero fat, except for wind ball mark which contained a trace amount of fat (0.8g/100g).

Haitian sodium content is comparable to soy sauce

High oil is not without high salt! In addition to the fat content, there may be another health risk in chili sauce that is easy to overlook, and that is "invisible sodium".

Clinical medical studies point out that the pathogenesis of hypertension is due to excessive sodium intake, which causes water and sodium retention in the body, resulting in an increase in blood volume and a rise in blood pressure.

The Chinese Nutrition Society also warns that a high-sodium (salt) diet is also an important risk factor for stroke and stomach cancer, and recommends that consumers undertake a low-sodium diet.

The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016 Edition) recommends that the total daily salt intake of normal adults should not exceed 6g (about 2400mg of sodium) and should not exceed 2.4g of salt per meal.

The test showed that among the 12 chili sauces, Laughing Chef had the lowest sodium content, only 780 mg/100g; Haitian and Jixiangju had higher sodium content, reaching 5233 mg/100g and 5000 mg/100g, respectively.

This magazine has tested soy sauce in the past, the sodium content is generally between 4000~7000mg/100g, therefore, Haitian and Jixiangju are almost as "salty" as soy sauce.

If the salt content is converted, the salt content of the 12 chili sauces ranges from 2.0 to 13.3g/100g. Taking Haitian and Jixiangju as examples, for each spoonful (about 20g) of chili sauce, the salt intake is 2.7g and 2.5g respectively, which exceeds the appropriate amount per meal (2.4g) and also reaches more than 40% of the daily limit.

In addition, the salt intake per scoop (about 20g) of Laughing Chef and Lao Gan Ma is 0.4 and 0.8g respectively, which is a small risk of sodium overload according to the normal daily consumption.

【Special Declaration】: The test results and brands mentioned in this report are only responsible for the test samples and do not represent the quality status of the same batch or other models of their products.