Could Sriracha see an untimely demise?

[Fire Me Boy!]

I'm a big fan of sriracha, so this would make me sad...

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ut-down-panic/

In Irwindale, California, nose-y neighbors, sick of the supposedly strong chili smell emanating from the factory where Sriracha hot sauce is made, want the Huy Fong Foods factory shut down unless the odor can be abated. The city has filed a public nuisance lawsuit, says the Associated Press, “seeking temporary closure of the factory until Huy Fong submits a plan to minimize the smell.” CBS:

“The odors are so strong and offensive as to have caused residents to move outdoor activities indoors and even to vacate their residences temporarily to seek relief from the odors,” according to the suit.

Living next to a food processing plant is always a scented existence, and Huy Fong Foods has denied there’s a problem. But if the injunction goes through, it could spell bad news for hot sauce lovers everywhere.

The factory in Irwindale where Sriracha is now made opened just last year. At 650,000 square feet, says Quartz, the company can pump out up to 7,500 bottles of hot sauce each hour. Huy Fong Foods was started 33 years ago by Vietnamese refugee David Tran, and the company, says Quartz, has never raised its wholesale prices. If the Sriracha factory is shuttered, supply and demand may do what Tran never did. Canada might have a strategic maple syrup reserve, but if Sriracha goes out of production, there’s no emergency warehouse waiting to be tapped.

If the price of Sriracha skyrockets, where will the heat-seeking foodie turn? For the New Yorker, Lauren Collins details how chili sauces have grown into a massive industry.

Chilis have become an attractive business. According to a report by IBISWorld, a market-research firm, hot-sauce production is one of America’s ten fastest-growing industries, along with solar-panel manufacturing and online eyeglass sales.

Unfortunately, it seems, based on Collins’ account, the so-called “chiliheads” driving the hot sauce boom have been in a bid to best each other on one metric alone, Scoville units, a measure of hotness. With manufacturers racing to abandon taste for sheer burn, we can only hope the city of Irwindale and Huy Fong Foods can work out their differences before our bottle is empty.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I've never tried this stuff. I don't eat chinese or vietnamese food. What do you guys use this sauce for, and what foods to you put it on?

It's mildly hot [oxymoron, I know, but it is an accurate characterization], but strongly garlicy.

The single best thing for Sriracha, IMO, is eggs. Not a schorcher, but peppier than ketchup.

Also good on satay, and in ramen. Add it to other sauces [marinara, kung pao, ketchup, buffalo, etc.] for more pep.

Even good to dredge chicken nuggets through.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

If it tastes so good, why does it make such an awful smell to manufacture it?

It's not a BAD smell like rotten eggs or trash, it's irritatiing, as it releases capcaisin, as in pepper spray. Burns the eyes and swells the throat in high enough concentrations.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

If it tastes so good, why does it make such an awful smell to manufacture it?

Its only "awful" for a few delicate little flowers who are either Darwin candidates or are just whining about it. A lot of the residents actually like it.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Cholula is quickly becoming my go to sauce. Love that stuff.

[Pablo]

Sriracha is the tits.

Cholula is where it's at for thin hot sauce. Tapatio works as well.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Cholula is where it's at for thin hot sauce. Tapatio works as well.

Yeah, but how are they on schnauzer?

[scho63]

I use Sriracha for the following;

• In Bloody Mary's
• Mixed with mustard for hot dogs
• I add to certain red sauces for things like sausage and peppers
• I put it in vegetable soup and other tomato based soups
• On hamburgers as a booster with ketchup
• In Vietnamese Pho soup
• On meatloaf
• In cocktail sauce for shrimp
• On raw oysters

It is an awesome sauce that lingers due to the chili oil!

[cdcox]

I make a skillet concoction of turkey sausage, onions, cabbage, cannelli beans and brown rice. Sriracha goes great on this and adds some much needed color.

[Garcia Bronco]

Does a judge really have legal authority to do that?

[Fire Me Boy!]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#axzz2nH7GqfCD

Sriracha shipping halted until mid-January by state regulators

Sriracha hot sauce manufacturer Huy Fong Foods cannot ship out any more sauce until mid-January because the California Department of Public Health has begun enforcing stricter guidelines for the company.

Their three sauces, Sriracha, Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek, now must be held for at least 30 days before they can be shipped to food distributors and wholesalers, the company confirmed Wednesday. It's not clear whether the hold is a new requirement. The Department of Public Health did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The production delay comes amid a heated legal battle with the city of Irwindale, which sued the hot sauce manufacturer over spicy odors that residents say caused a raft of health issues.


http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2nHAHS5NX

[TrebMaxx]

Huy Fong Foods needs to GTFO of Cali.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by TrebMaxx

Huy Fong Foods needs to GTFO of Cali.

Yep. I'll bet there are other states dying to hand out tax credits to get that plant.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Yep. I'll bet there are other states dying to hand out tax credits to get that plant.

Construction of a brand new plant and a few hundred new jobs would look nice just about anywhere. If California wants to run them off, let them.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

hell they just BUILT the plant.

[Skyy God]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Yep. I'll bet there are other states dying to hand out tax credits to get that plant.

I'm sure the Thai owners would prefer Cali to Kansas, tax credits or no.