A Romanian man wolfed down half a kilo of fiery Italian chilli peppers in half an hour on Lake Como Tuesday to become Italy's latest Mr Peperoncino.
With 485 grammes, 22-year-old Christian Szavu pipped six-time champ Adriano Gatto who gobbled down 475g of the red-hot spices in the allotted time.
Another veteran peperoncino-munching star, Emilio Volponi, was left fuming far back in third place with just 240g.
The top two's half-kilo haul didn't set the history books on fire, coming up 300g short of the all-time record of 800g set by 'fire-eater' Francesco Vecchio in 1997.
In the women's contest, five-time winner Mariella Andreani prevailed with 300 grammes of the 'red devils', equalling her personal best.
In the contest, at the Lake Como town of Albese, intrepid fans of Italy's answer to Mexican chillis are given 30 minutes to down as many red-hot peperoncini as they can manage with the help of water, wine, bread and mashed potatoes.
Cheered on by a noisy crowd and watched by the beady eye of referees, 25 bidders for the crown munched it out this year - most from Lombardy and Switzerland.
The contest has been opened up to foreigners in the last two years.
One of three Thai contenders came fourth in 2006.
The Albese contest is one of two which have gained prominence over the last few years.
In southern Italy the highest-profile is at Diamante near Cosenza in Calabria, which is open only to Italians and has had its winners appear on national TV.
One recent winner ate 700g compared to the 400-500g of runners-up.
