There are many things in life that we love having, but that we wouldn’t love to have in our literal or figurative backyards. Things like sriracha, the powerful chili sauce that scorches your taste buds off with deliciousness. You might love the sauce, but have you ever thought about the people who live near the factories where it’s made?

No one thinks of the people who live near the hot sauce factory whose eyes and noses burn from the chili sauce in the air. It probably doesn’t have to be that way, though. The city of Irwindale, California is home to a sriracha factory, and also home to a lot of people who aren’t very fond of the chili in the air.

See, the way sauce is made at Huy Fong is very efficient. They process all of the chilis that the facility will need for the coming year during the last few months of the year, from early September to the beginning of December at the latest. That’s the time of year when the scent of chili is so thick in the air that citizens’ eyes burn.

The company at first cooperated with city officials when asked to find ways to cut back on the smell. Then it denied that there’s a problem. The 30 city residents who have filed complaints certainly have a problem, so the city filed a suit in county superior court asking that a judge shut down the plant until the company can find a way to cut back on the odor output.

Sriracha sauce factory odor causing headaches, burning eyes, city says [Los Angeles Times]

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