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Press release 25 th June 2009

Could this be the World's Hottest Chilli ? - only for the brave! -

‘The Source’, priced £100 from Selfridges A chilli sauce 1420 times hotter than Tabasco and measuring 7.1 million on the is launching at Selfridges on 10th July 2009.

The ‘Source’ sauce is made using the chilli, one of the hottest chillies in the world. Only 20 of the limited edition bottles are going on sale priced £100 and it is recommended that only 2 drops is used of the sauce at any time. The Source comes complete with a warning that due to its extremely hot nature the sauce must only be used as a food additive and should be consumed at the user’s own risk.

Natasha Jolly, Grocery Buyer at Selfridges says “Anyone who loves chillies must try this sauce, it certainly adds some extra fire to your barbeque this summer. But be warned it’s not for the fainthearted!”

For anyone wishing to sample The Source for themselves it will be available from Selfridges’ Food Hall on Oxford Street from 10 th July.

- Ends -

For further information please contact Hayley Mountstevens at ZPR on 0207 896 3206 or email: hayley@z- pr.com

Notes to editors:

• The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness or piquancy of a , as defined by the amount of (a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings in the skin) present. • Peppers are rated based on Scoville Units, a method developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. The original method used human tasters to evaluate how many parts of water it takes to neutralize the heat. Nowadays human tasters are spared and a new process called HPLC, or High Performance Liquid Chromotography measures the amount of capsaicinoids (capsaicin) in parts per million. Capsaicin is the compound that gives chillies their heat. The chart below rates chilli peppers, with their heat level on the Scoville unit scale

Heat Level (units) 15,000,000–16,000,000 Pure capsaicin

8,600,000–9,100,000 Various capsaicinoids (e.g. , , ) 5,000,000–5,300,000 Law Enforcement Grade FN 303 irritant ammunition The Source, Habanero chilli 7,100,000 855,000–1,050,000 Naga Jolokia

350,000–580,000 Red Savina Habanero

100,000–350,000 Habanero chili, Pepper, , Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper, African Birdseye, 50,000–100,000 Thai Pepper, , Chiltepin Pepper,

30,000–50,000 , Ají pepper, , some peppers

10,000–23,000 , some Chipotle peppers

2,500–8,000 Jalapeño Pepper, Guajillo pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper, () 500–2,500 Anaheim pepper, Pepper, Rocotillo Pepper 100–500 Pimento, Pepperoncini

0 No heat

About Selfridges

Selfridges is 100 years old in 2009. • The business was founded by American entrepreneur Gordon Selfridge in 1909 and run by him until he retired in 1940 and took on the role of President. Gordon Selfridge died in 1947. Four years later the business was sold to Lewis’ of Liverpool for £3.4 million. • In 1965 Charles Clore’s British Shoe Corporation won control of Selfridges in take-over for £63 million. New developments included the opening of Miss Selfridge. • In 1998 the company was de-merged from the Sears Group and floated on the London Stock Exchange. • In 2003 Galen Weston purchased Selfridges. He and his wife Hilary are closely involved with the development and growth of the company and their daughter Alannah is Creative Director. • In the year ended 31 January 2008, Selfridges’ sales rose by 10 per cent to £655 million and profit grew by 30 per cent to £84.1 million. • Galen Weston is Chairman of Selfridges and, in January 2004, Allan Leighton was appointed Deputy Chairman. • Paul Kelly became Chief Executive of Selfridges in February 2004. Before that, Paul was Managing Director of Brown Thomas in Dublin for ten years. He has worked with the Weston family for over 20 years. • Galen Weston is Chairman of the premier luxury goods company which, as well as Selfridges, includes Holt Renfrew in Canada and Brown Thomas in Ireland.