Jalapeños are getting less spicy, which has food lovers excited.
X users erupted on Tuesday over the “diabolical” revelation, with many blaming the corporatization of agriculture.
“Fucking crazy. Big Ag actually makes jalapeños less spicy—you’re not going crazy,” health and wellness writer Timothy Foster tweeted and a link to the May 2023 D-Magazine story “Here’s why jalapeños are less spicy than they used to be.”
The article attributes the domestication of the jalapeño to advanced agricultural technology that standardized the crop so growers could better market their product.
The once-iconic chili is now generally mild, but can be made spicier with the help of the extracts that are added to salsas, sauces, sausages and other foods after the jalapeños are processed.
Faust’s post has been viewed more than 1.3 million times, unintentionally causing a social media storm.
“It’s absolutely evil to breed vegetables for consistency only to foist these disgusting things on unsuspecting consumers. You’re already selling them by the pound for a reason.” One outraged user replied.
Another responded: “There’s actually nothing that capitalism won’t destroy.”
Many called for the practice to be reversed, with one saying: “Let our chilli giants go.”
As jalapeño flavors become increasingly diluted, demand for serrano peppers, a grassier but nearly three times stronger pepper, has soared in popularity and may make up for it. The gap left by the jalapeños.
Stephanie Walker, an extension vegetable specialist and chili expert at New Mexico State University, told D Magazine that when producers began marketing their products with “mild,” “medium” and “hot” labels nearly 40 years ago, jalapenos It began to gradually become milder.
“This has become a huge demand for chipotle peppers (low-heat jalapeños) because they are mostly used for processing and cooking. [Producers] “I wanted to start with jalapenos and add capsicum oleoresin,” she said, referring to an extract from chili peppers that contains pure heat and can be added to products for varying levels of spice.
New jalapeno varieties have even been bred to achieve this low-calorie, mild goal, the most popular of which is the TAM II variety developed at Texas A&M University.
“Some Texas A&M students made a more profitable but less spicy jalapeño and that’s why they suck now. Unbelievable,” one X user wrote.
Another person agreed, calling the school’s students “wokesters.”
While Walker expects the market will once again be interested in growing jalapenos for use as a spice, today the best option for heat lovers is to buy jalapenos from local, small-scale farmers or carve out a space in your own garden for some home. -Planted peppers.