NAMPA, Idaho — The Nampa Farmers Market got a little spicy on Saturday after it put together its first-ever hot pepper eating contest and organizers say it was a pretty good turnout.
Contestants were seated in several rows while they were given a variety of spicy peppers, starting from mild peppers and working their way up to some extremely hot peppers.
Toby Waters was the last person standing at the end of the competition, but talking after eating some of the hottest peppers from around the world was difficult.
"The shakes have finally worn off and as I have been speaking my throat has stopped contracting," he said.
The grand prize for taking the heat was $250 and a bottle of Tums.
Winning the competition took some planning and perfect execution for WAters to beat his competitors.
"I was taking the whole pepper and the stem all at one time, I didn't mess around, its best believe it or not if you chew it all up, its easier on your stomach that way instead of leaving giant chunks of pepper in there," he said.
Contest organizers said they got the idea off of YouTube, where they saw other hot pepper eating contests.