The Carolina Reaper (2,200,000 SHU) is the hottest pepper in the world – ranging from 1,500,000 Scoville Heat Units and peaking at 2,200,000 SHUs. The Scoville Scale is dominated early by chemical compounds such as Resiniferatoxin (16,000,000,000 SHU) – a chemical likely to cause chemical burns on contact with the skin.