Police Pepper Spray is Not a Food Item

chart from Wikipedia

We never turn on Fox "news", but we heard on another channel how the Fox "news" commentators were calling pepper spray a food product.  They even suggested it had been diluted.   This is complete nonsense.

“pepper spray is a food product, essentially.” Megyn Kelly

Peppers are rated by the Scoville method, most people are familiar with the Jalepeno which is rated between 3,500 and 8,000 Scoville units.  The Habanero is listed at 100,000-350,000 units.  This is seriously hot and can cause an intensely painful burning sensation, when the oil from preparing a pepper is transferred to your face or other sensitive body parts.  I can personally attest to how painful this can be.  The following video shows the intense effects of a very small piece of the "ghost" pepper, rated at 800,000 to 1.4 million Scoville units, over the course of one hour.  Police pepper spray is 5.3 million units, 5 times hotter than the ultimate ghost pepper.  This is not a food product, it is a weapon.   The US is banned by international treaties from using it in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other war zone.   Using this on peaceful protestors is completely unacceptable. 

Change.org has a petition:

Ms. Kelly, on November 21, you told Bill O'Reilly that pepper spray (as used by Lt. John Pike to assault the UC Davis protestors) is "a food product, essentially." That was, of course, ridiculous.  While you allowed that the spray was "abrasive and intrusive", you wondered if it had been diluted (reportedly, it hadn't).  To back up your claim that pepper spray is a food product, please consume as much of it as was sprayed on each protestor's face, in one sitting, on camera at Fox News. You may mix the spray with one serving of food or drink, as I am not a sadist. Then, please relate the effects to your audience.

Sign the Petition here

Related articles

• California Woman Pepper Sprays Other Customers To Get "Upper Hand" in Black Friday Deal (jonathanturley.org)
• Megyn Kelly Claims Her Pepper Spray is a 'Food Product, Essentially' Comment Was Taken Out of Context (crooksandliars.com)