TOURISTS at Kuranda's Heritage Markets have been taking an eye-watering challenge tasting some of the world's hottest chilli sauces.

Marlies Lacour stocks around 40 different varieties, including the local Termite label, ranging from fairly tame to nuclear.

"Some people who try them find them too hot but most people who sample them are chilli-eaters, so they are used to the heat," Ms Lacour said.

Ms Lacour's stall has a copy of a certificate from the Guinness Book of Records for a sauce made from the Australian-grown Trinidad Scorpion Butch "T" chilli which registered 1,463,700 Scoville heat units, the system for measuring the burn factor in spices.

That makes it the hottest chilli in the world.

But for serious searing, daredevils should try the Incinerator sauces made from a concentrate of hot chillies which register between 15 and 16 million on the Scoville scale.

"It even comes with a health warning," Ms Lacour said.

Ms Lacour praised the health benefits of chillies.

"They are high in fibre and vitamin C, they make you happy because they trigger the endorphins and they are good for your immune system," she said.

Scottish tourist Kim Jennings, who sampled the Scorpion Strike, was unconvinced.

Barely able to speak, she said: "It made my eyes water and burned my sinuses."

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