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<ul><li><keyword id="12251305" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nua" source="Orion">Nua</keyword>, a direct-to-consumer wellness brand that came into existence in 2017, has already built a community of 4 lakh women.</li><li>Nua started its journey by introducing <keyword id="584042" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanitary-pads" source="Orion">sanitary pads</keyword>, followed by a range of innovative products such as Cramp Comfort, Foaming Intimate Wash, and 1mm Everyday Liners. All these products have been launched after having a one-on-one conversation with consumers on Instagram.</li><li>In its last investment round, it raised $7.1 million and added <keyword id="598" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="deepika-padukone" source="Orion">Deepika Padukone</keyword> as an investor who is now working closely with Nua to ideate and create new wellness solutions.</li><li><keyword id="12251306" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ravi-ramachandran" source="Orion">Ravi Ramachandran</keyword>, CEO, and Founder, Nua talks to us about brand's journey so far, how community marketing has helped the brand carve a niche in the market, why there’s a need for long-term engagement at the core of women’s wellness, and a lot more.</li></ul>Menstruation has historically been a taboo subject in India. The word ‘Period’ is usually uttered in hushed voices and years of social conditioning has built a culture of silence around what is a normal biological process. Women are used to buying sanitary pads off the shelf, covered in black plastic, without having a chance to read the packaging and decide whether that particular pack of pads actually caters to their needs or not. In the advertising and marketing world, menstruation has always meant a cis-gendered woman in white pants conquering the world with blue liquid dripping on her cotton strips. <br /><br />Therefore, there was an urgent need for a brand that could actively change this narrative, include non-binary people in their campaigns to help minimise dysphoria among AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) people who are not women, challenge existing superstitions around menstruation and encourage menstruators to talk about their sexual wellness openly. Enter Nua, a wellness brand that has managed to carve a niche for itself by simply having an open, candid conversation with menstruators. <br /><br />Nua engages with its audience one-on-one on Instagram and offers advice on their health issues. It wanted to provide a platform where menstruators feel they are heard without being put in a box and provide solutions in return, specific to their individual needs. Even Nua’s products are born out of insights gathered from its community of over 4 Lakh women. The direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model also allows Nua to connect directly with its customers and maintain control over product development, marketing and distribution.<br /><br />Ravi Ramachandran, CEO and Founder, Nua told us that the brand was born to give the women's wellness category a new beginning, as the name ‘Nua’ suggests. Its story began with a pad and the brand soon realised there’s a need for safe and effective products that goes beyond just pads. Nua asked the women in its community to tell them what they were looking for and launched Cramp Comfort (self-heating patch), Foaming Intimate Wash, 1mm Everyday Liners and <keyword id="1675549" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uplift" source="Orion">Uplift</keyword> (period nutrition drink mix). <br /><br />“We believe that our Sanitary Pads, Cramp Comfort (India’s first unique self-heating patch), Foaming Intimate Wash, 1mm Everyday Liners, and Uplift (period nutrition drink mix) are made by us but are created by our community of over 4 Lakh women who wanted to start a new and improved wellness journey. Our ability to co-create solutions with our community of over 4 lakh women is, what we believe, sets us apart. We are always listening to what our community has to say, especially things that bother them, and this translates into new product development. With menstrual cramps being a big pain point, we created India’s first revolutionary self-heating patch for menstrual cramps known as ‘Cramp Comfort’. Recently, we launched a period nutrition drink mix ‘Uplift’. 100% safe, effective, and made of inclusive ingredients, Uplift is a result of insights gathered from the Nua community and worked upon through extensive research in labs to address the issue of period fatigue. In addition to these period care products, we also offer hygiene products such as Foaming Intimate Wash and Everyday Liners,” said Ramachandran. <br /><br />When you start following Nua on Instagram, the page sends you a message and Ramachandran told us that 80-90% of the time, customers respond to their questions. In 24 hours, Nua gets even up to 25,000 responses on Instagram. Its team responds to each query personally.<br />  <div type="image" title="57c50ec6-ec3f-42b0-b7c3-855c40f65448" msid="86794187" hostid="261"></div><br />“Social media has played a major role in allowing us to interact with our consumers and understand their purchase patterns and requirements. Our approach has, and will always be, to keep the community at the heart of everything we do. We want women to feel safe, seen, and heard. Today, we have a strong community of over 4 lakh women across our social media channels. We focus on holistic content based on our conversations with them, we have sessions with experts, and also provide a platform for women to engage and learn more about a wide range of wellness aspects - mental, physical, sexual. Moreover, we are always listening to what our community has to say, especially things that bother them, and this also translates into new product development,” Ramachandran told Ad and Media Insider. <br /><br />On the back of its community, D2C model and unique marketing strategy, Nua aims to grow 4x by the end of this fiscal.<br /><br />Sharing his larger vision for the brand, Ramachandran said, “Our mission is to build holistic solutions in solving real problems and focus on being customer-first. The market for women’s wellness is massive as several large opportunities remain unsolved. Over the next 12 months, we are poised to grow 4-5x on the back of new products, tech-enabled solutions, and foray into adjacent categories.”<br />

How Nua is using community marketing to change the conversation around menstruation and wellness

A new <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024004355#b0205">study</a> published in <em>Environment International</em> found that 14 of the 30 tampon brands tested contained measurable quantities of 16 metals, including <keyword id="21287030" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="heavy-metals" source="keywords">heavy metals</keyword> like lead and arsenic. Unlike other areas of skin, the <keyword id="22359234" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaginal-tissue" source="keywords">vaginal tissue</keyword> readily absorbs substances, potentially leading to "systemic exposure" to these metals, warn scientists.<br /><br />The study acknowledges several possible sources for the metals in <keyword id="21056381" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tampons" source="keywords">tampons</keyword>. They could be present in the cotton itself due to environmental factors or contamination. Alternatively, the metals might be added during manufacturing for purposes like pigmentation, whitening, or anti-bacterial properties. But how “safe” are they?<br /><br />We know what you're thinking: a relatively tiny chunk of Indians use tampons. But while this study claims to be the first of its kind for tampons, this is hardly the first time questionable materials have been found in a <keyword id="22359233" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanitary-product" source="keywords">sanitary product</keyword> created for women. Other heavy metals, potentially harmful <keyword id="20406621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chemicals" source="keywords">chemicals</keyword> and even carcinogens have previously been detected in sanitary napkins as well. And last we checked, over 40% of Indian women used <keyword id="584042" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanitary-pads" source="Orion">sanitary pads</keyword> while menstruating.<br /><h2>Link between sanitary pads and <keyword id="22359235" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reproductive-diseases" source="keywords">reproductive diseases</keyword></h2>A 2022 <a href="https://toxicslink.org/publications/reports/wrapped-in-secrecy-toxic-chemicals-in-menstrual-products">report</a> focused on two main culprits: phthalates and volatile organic compounds that are added for elasticity and absorbency in pads. These chemicals were detected in all ten tested brands, including both inorganic and organic varieties. Popular names like <keyword id="20280828" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="whisper" source="keywords">Whisper</keyword>, Stayfree, Sofy, PeeSafe, Nua, and Plush were included in the analysis.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111624399" title="How did over 800 students test HIV positive in Tripura?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Experts have repeatedly warned of the potential <keyword id="19977451" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-risks" source="keywords">health risks</keyword> associated with these chemicals, going as far as to suggest that these chemicals could disrupt hormonal functions, potentially leading to PCOS, endometriosis, and hypothyroidism. Long-term exposure may even increase cancer risk. The concern is heightened by the vagina's high absorbency, allowing these chemicals to enter the body at a faster rate.<br /><br />A lot of this is conjecture based on what doctors and experts suspect, primarily because not nearly enough research has been conducted on the potential impacts of sanitary products on women’s bodies. Naturally, there’s a lack of regulation from governments on period products.<br /><h2>The glaring lack of proper labelling of sanitary products</h2>Sanitary product manufacturers love to wrap their stuff in flowery and “girly” packages, with the size of a pad’s wings and how it will last you all day long advertised in bold letters. But they don’t think it’s necessary to test their products for their content and perhaps even share that little tidbit with their customers.<br /><br />Companies making pads and tampons are usually exempt from listing ingredients as these are categorised as "medical products." However, many argue this label is misleading as pads cannot be considered medical intervention, they’re just for absorption. <br /><br />The absence of research on quality standards raises red flags. Individuals and NGOs have voiced concerns about potentially harmful chemicals in some pads but to no avail. Even existing regulations offer no solace. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) did implement higher quality standards for reusable sanitary pads, sanitary napkins and period panties. However, Without ingredient lists, it's impossible for consumers to make informed choices about their health.<br /><h2>A call for change</h2>This lack of transparency and outdated regulations create a situation where millions of women are unknowingly exposed to potential health risks. Sanitary pad companies should be required to list all ingredients on the packaging, empowering consumers with knowledge. The BIS needs to update its guidelines to include thorough testing for harmful chemicals, ensuring safety. Most of all, further research is crucial to assess the quality and safety of sanitary pads available in the Indian market.<br /><div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111578389" title="Talc, found in baby powder and cosmetics, is “probably” cancer-causing, says WHO agency" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>While the ongoing research sheds light on a previously unknown potential health risk associated with sanitary products, we acknowledge that using a pad is a lot more hygienic and safe than using a cloth rag. But clear labelling and stricter regulations are essential to ensure the safety of individuals who rely on these products.<br />

Your go-to sanitary product likely has harmful heavy metals in it, even if the label doesn’t say so!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An influencer in Thailand has apologized after appearing to eat a bat in a YouTube video.</li><li>A local news report said the influencer was arrested for violating animal conservation laws. </li></ul><p>An influencer in Thailand who appeared to eat a bat on camera and was <a href="https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/police-arrest-bat-eating-youtuber-in-northeast-thailand">subsequently arrested</a> has since apologized to viewers.</p><p>Phonchanok Srisunaklua, a YouTuber with 254,000 subscribers, typically posts mukbang videos — a genre involving eating food on camera — to her channel Gin Zap Bep Nua Nua, which translates to "eat spicy and delicious" in English.</p><p>Earlier this month, she posted the now-deleted video in which she sits in front of a bowl of soup containing what are reportedly several <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/bat-soup-thailand-teacher-eats-youtube-video/">Lesser Asiatic yellow bats</a>, which are a protected species. </p><p>A version of Srisunaklua's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=948814732762223">video</a> uploaded to Facebook shows the YouTuber pulling apart the meat of an animal that looks like a bat before dipping it in a red sauce and eating it. </p><p><a href="https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/police-arrest-bat-eating-youtuber-in-northeast-thailand">The Thaiger reported that</a> Phon Kaew Police officers arrested Srisunaklua on suspicion of violating Thailand's 2019 Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, which prohibits the "hunting" and "possession" of "preserved or protected wild animals," <a href="https://leap.unep.org/countries/th/national-legislation/wildlife-conservation-and-protection-act-be-2562-2019-0#:~:text=The%20Act%20prohibits%20hunting%20of,otherwise%20permitted%20by%20the%20Act.">according to the UN.</a></p><p><a href="https://cites.org/eng/parties/country-profiles/th">Thailand is also a signatory</a> to the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/cites/index_en.htm#:~:text=The%20Convention%20on%20International%20Trade,species%20of%20animals%20and%20plants.">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora</a>, designed to ensure that the international trade of protected species, including bats, does not threaten their survival.  </p><p>In a subsequent YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIfHWcyFhDc">video</a> posted on November 9, Srisunaklua did not mention an arrest, but said, "I apologize to my fans. I apologize to my colleagues and family for my actions in this matter." </p><p>The influencer said that some of her followers "were disappointed" by her post, and added, "I apologize for not thinking clearly and carefully. I'm really sorry for doing that. From now on, I will not do what I've done in the video. I will not let this happen again." </p><p>Phonchanok Srisunaklua did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. </p><p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4724787/">The National Library of Medicine describes</a> the consumption of bats as a risk to public health, as it places humans at risk of contracting bat-borne diseases, such as SARS and Ebola. </p><p>In the days since her arrest, Srisunaklua has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHnF6azq-5xjSwDgpmIRVw/videos">continued to post mukbang content</a> on her YouTube channel. Local police told The Thaiger the influencer has denied the charges. She is currently facing a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 baht, which is roughly $13,900.</p><p>Insider was unable to contact local authorities for comment.</p><p>Influencers across Asia — where the mukbang genre is immensely popular — have previously faced backlash for posting controversial videos involving eating unusual or endangered animals.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/chinese-police-streamer-tizi-great-white-shark-2022-8">In August,</a> a Chinese streamer was reportedly under police investigation following a video in which she ate a great white shark, which is a protected species in China. In May 2021, a food blogger from China's Hainan province was detained for reportedly eating an endangered sea snail, <a href="https://news.cctv.com/2021/05/13/ARTIpSnzlBnLSKLYplLCeyud210513.shtml?spm=C94212.P4YnMod9m2uD.ENPMkWvfnaiV.210">according to China Central Television</a>. </p><p>These videos are also highly controversial among influencers' viewers and followers, who criticize the creators for promoting dangerous behavior in their videos. In September, a Chinese influencer named Wang Can promised viewers he would start posting more "positive" content <a href="https://www.insider.com/wang-can-influencer-backlash-wasp-eating-video-2022-9">after facing backlash for eating a bee on camera,</a> which he said caused his face to swell up. Insider was unable to contact the influencer for comment at the time. </p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/culture"><strong>For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.</strong></a> </p>

A YouTuber in Thailand has apologized following her arrest in connection with eating a bat on camera, reports say

<ul class="summary-list"><li>From extreme hot sauces to online spice challenges, Americans have long had a fascination with spice.</li><li>Chile pepper production has consistently grown in the US, and diners increasingly expect more spice in their foods.</li></ul><p>On a Friday at Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, 14-year-old Harris Wolobah was handed a small coffin-shaped box, emblazoned with a skull and snake, that contains a single spicy tortilla chip called the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extra-spicy-one-chip-challenge-tortilla-chip-pulled-teen-death-2023-9">One Chip Challenge.</a></p><p>Paqui, a Hershey company-owned brand that makes the chip, doesn't have a measurement for how spicy its product is or a<strong> </strong>Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating that shows the level of pungency of a pepper.</p><p>But the chip is made with the Carolina Reaper and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/red-dog-saloon-chicken-wings-naga-chilli-viper-challenge-hoxton-spice-scoville-2017-9">Naga Viper</a> peppers, which are rated at about 1.6 million and 1.4 million SHU, respectively. Jalapeno peppers, in comparison, range from 2,500 to 8,000 SHU.</p><p>The "challenge" is simple: Eat the whole chip in one sitting, and see how long you can last without desperately grabbing a glass of milk or water.</p><p>Health experts have already warned about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-death-one-chip-challenge-spicy-food-safety-2023-9">the potential side effects</a> of participating in the One Chip Challenge: vomiting, stomach pain, difficulty breathing, and even <a target="_blank" href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/09/07/one-chip-challenge-dangerous/">cardiac arrest</a>. But Wolobah, like so many others, most likely either had no clue about the warnings or brushed it off.</p><p>Plus, countless others have already tried the challenge and shared their experience on YouTube. Pain quickly ensues but the participants seemed to come out of it okay.</p><p>When Wolobah ate the chip, the sophomore must have had an especially adverse reaction. According to Harris's mother, Lois Wolobah, he fainted and was sent to the nurse's office that day.</p><p>"When I went there, he was lying down and I said, 'What was the chip you ate?'" his mother told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/one-chip-challenge-death-paqui-harris-wolobah-worcester-massachusetts/">WBZ TV.</a> Wolobah showed his mom the Paqui brand <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/carolina-reaper-madness-chip-spiciest-tortilla-one-challenge-2016-10">One Chip Challenge</a>. His father, Amos, said his son didn't have any pre-existing condition, at least to his knowledge, he said.</p><p>Wolobah died in his home hours later. Autopsy results have not yet been released, and the family and Hershey did not respond to a request for comment. But the Wolobahs are pointing the blame squarely at the One Chip Challenge.</p><p>Paqui in response said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://paqui.com/onechipchallenge/">statement</a> that it's working with retailers to "remove the product from shelves."</p><p>It's unclear if the heat had anything to do with Wolobah's death, but the challenge's mere existence points to a uniquely American fascination with spice.</p><p>At <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/spiciest-dishes-us-2018-4">restaurants</a>, sweat-inducing heat is almost expected on the menu. In the aisles of grocery stores, shoppers can choose from a dizzying selection of hot sauces. And in South Carolina, a farm is singlehandedly responsible for developing one of the hottest peppers ever eaten by mankind. The farm recently just topped its own record with a pepper rated at more than 2 million Scoville Heat Units.</p><p>The demand has sometimes veered into the realm of morbid curiosity. Online, content creators farm for attention by taking part in extreme food challenges, expecting the pain, while millions watch.</p><p>Here's how we got here.</p><h2>It all began with an Italian explorer</h2><p>The very brief summary of the chile peppers' origin starts somewhere in South America around Bolivia and Brazil, according to Stephanie Walker, an extension vegetable specialist at New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute.</p><p>When humans discovered peppers and their kick — a sensation, not a flavor — thousands of years ago, they immediately latched onto the fruit as a medicinal crop, and through human selection, a variety of chile peppers of different sizes and shapes started to appear, Walker told Business Insider.</p><p>But the chile pepper's global proliferation began with a familiar name: Christopher Columbus.</p><p>Columbus was looking for black peppercorns — a highly sought-after fruit at the time — but instead encountered a red plant that had a similar pungency, according to Walker. Hence the reason why we call the red fruit, chile <em>peppers</em>, despite having no relationship to the black peppercorn.</p><p>Once the Italian explorer took the seed back to the Old World, the fruit took off.</p><p>"Many countries, especially Asian countries, African countries, really embraced it and started developing their own particular types of chile based on the flavors, the heat level, and other attributes that they preferred," the professor said.</p><p>At least since the 20th century, the US has consistently seen a steady increase in chile pepper demand, especially as immigration opened up in the country.</p><p>Between 1980 and 2020, chile pepper consumption increased more than twofold, from three pounds to seven pounds per person according to a 2021<strong> </strong>research paper from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/10/2040">New Mexico State University's Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business</a>.</p><p>"Consumption of peppers is going up in the United States, and it has been steadily for some time," Walker said.</p><p>By 2020, <a target="_blank" href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/02870v86p/j6731x86f/9306tr664/vegean21.pdf">according to the USDA</a>, the chile pepper market was valued at $100 million. </p><h2><strong>A world record</strong></h2><p>Ed Currie — arguably the godfather of extremely hot chile peppers for his hand in developing the world's hottest chiles — traces his fascination with spice back to his college days in the '80s when his parents had to give him a reality check.</p><p>"My parents told me I was going to die of heart disease or cancer, and I had better do something about it if I wanted to keep on living the lifestyle that I was leading," Currie told Business Insider. Currie, at that time, was a "full-blown alcoholic and addict."</p><p>His habits didn't come to a sudden halt, but he did discover his interest in peppers during visits to the school library at absurd hours. In particular, Currie was piqued by the chile peppers' medicinal qualities. Perhaps, he thought, they contained the key to keep him chugging along.</p><p>"I found out that the lowest indices of cancer and heart disease were around the equator from the two tropics," he said.</p><p>Currie began sending letters all over the world, mostly to embassies, requesting samples of chiles or chile seeds. The internet still had a few years before it truly took off.</p><p>After a brief stint as a bank trust officer and a move to South Carolina, Currie opened a small booth at a flea market slinging homemade salsa using peppers he grew in his yard. In 2003, Puckerbutt Pepper Company was born. Currie by then also was a recovering addict for several years.</p><div type="image" title="Ed Currie" height="4345" width="5794" msid="105451228" hostid="261"></div><p>It was at his farm in Fort Mills, where Currie developed two of the hottest peppers in the world — at least according to Guinness World Records.</p><p>In 2013, he set a world record with his Carolina Reaper pepper, which was recorded then with an average of 1.6 million Scoville Heat Units — just about the same pungency as police pepper spray, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>In October, he broke his own record again after patiently waiting more than a decade for someone to dethrone his Reaper. The pepper, called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/hot-ones-challenge-sauces-what-its-actually-like-review-2023-11">Pepper X</a>, measures at about 2.7 million SHU.</p><p>The South Carolina farmer gave three reasons why he and his team created peppers that are essentially suitable for torture.</p><p>One, "because we can," he told Business Insider.</p><p>Two, Currie's interest in the chile pepper's medicinal qualities persists.</p><p>And, three, "for flavor," he says.</p><p>Currie doesn't enjoy burning himself up more than anyone else, although he's likely developed an extraordinary tolerance over the years testing hot peppers.</p><p>The challenges that are spawned from his product, including the One Chip Challenge that so happens to be seasoned with the Reaper, might make for effective marketing, but Currie doesn't care to participate.</p><p>"I don't do those challenges 'cause they're stupid," he said.</p><p>Instead, developing a hotter pepper is part of a business model that would allow him to sell, for example, a hotter sauce with less pepper he says, but also, believe it or not, about creating a better-tasting product.</p><p>"The philosophy for me is how can I take something that's already popular and make it taste better," he said.</p><h2>Make it hotter, chef</h2><p>For as long as Roberto Santibañez was based in the US, the chef of almost four decades recalls Americans having a unique affinity to spicy foods.</p><p>Santibañez, a Mexico City native who opened three restaurants in his hometown, moved to New York City in 1996, where he would later open Fonda in 2009 serving contemporary Mexican food.</p><p>When his family got a taste of his spin on his native cuisine, they were shocked by the levels of heat.</p><p>In Mexico and in school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Santibańez felt that restaurants and chefs cooked with spice but with a bit of caution.</p><p>In the US, however, Santibańez has to remember: "People really go for it."</p><p>"I think what I've experienced is if you promise people with wordings like, 'This is a spicy sauce,' then people really want it spicy," he told Business Insider. "You can not fail them."</p><p>Some Fonda patrons ask for more heat on top of the hot salsas already served at his restaurant, Santibañez said, and he'll oblige by giving them diced habanero, a pepper rated at 150,000 to 350,000 SHU. In his cookbooks, the chef will advise home cooks not to be afraid to add more spice, understanding what his audience expects.</p><p>Americans' high tolerance for spice at restaurants can also be charted with the explosion of the Nashville Hot Chicken scene.</p><p>The dish — generally, fried chicken slathered with a cayenne-pepper-based sauce or paste and typically served with pickles and white bread — has been around for several decades, perhaps even as far back as the 1930s, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/28/471436355/how-a-cheating-husband-gave-rise-to-nashvilles-hot-chicken-craze">NPR</a>.</p><p>Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville is often cited as the originator. The lore behind the recipe is said to have involved a woman creating the dish to punish her cheating partner, Thornton Prince, the great-uncle of the restaurant's owner, Andre Prince.</p><p>In the past decade, however, the hot chicken appears to have received renewed attention with headlines on how the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/why-did-you-cross-the-road-to-get-a-hot-chicken-sandwich-along-with-everyone-else-1.6156397/why-the-appetite-for-chicken-sandwiches-is-red-hot-and-shows-no-signs-of-slowing-down-1.6156652">Nashville</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-01-06/among-all-else-2020-was-the-year-of-nashville-hot-chicken-sandwiches">Hot</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wattagnet.com/poultry-future/article/15531864/is-nashville-hot-chicken-the-next-big-menu-trend-wattagnet">Chicken</a> is <a target="_blank" href="https://bittersoutherner.com/how-hot-chicken-really-happened">exploding</a> in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chelseadavis/2023/02/24/oaklands-world-famous-hotboys-sells-1000000-nashville-hot-chicken-sandwiches-since-their-2019-opening/?sh=59684a6e2927">popularity</a>.</p><p>One man responsible for the hot chicken's prominence in southern California is Johnny Ray Zone, a Los Angeles native with a childhood love for spicy food and snacks.</p><p>"I was a big fan of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/true-story-flamin-hot-cheetos-richard-montanez-2023-6">Hot Cheetos</a>, even though they're not spicy," Zone told Business Insider. "I ate so many of those I had to get my appendix cut out."</p><p>After his father's untimely death, Zone, who by now had worked his way up from dishwasher to executive chef, took a trip to Nashville and fell in love with the iconic hot chicken dish.</p><p>LA needed this, Zone thought. In 2014, he started Howlin' Rays out of a food truck, serving Nashville hot chicken quarters with side dishes such as braised collard greens and a mac and cheese salad.</p><p>The simple genius behind Howlin' Rays and its eventual "viral success," as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-01-06/among-all-else-2020-was-the-year-of-nashville-hot-chicken-sandwiches">The Los Angeles Times</a> described, was putting the hot chicken in sandwich form — something Nashville did not have at the time, according to Zone.</p><p>"Once we did that, then it took off," he said.</p><div type="image" title="Two guys preparing Nashville Hote Chicken" height="3683" width="4910" msid="105451229" hostid="261"></div><p>But one part of the Nashville Hot Chicken experience Zone made sure to preserve was offering different levels of spice, going from mild all the way up to "howlin'" and "howlin' plus plus," which is off-menu.</p><p>In Nashville, every hot chicken restaurant offers different levels of spice and might have a unique name for each level, Zone said. And each restaurant had its own take on what their level of "hot" was.</p><p>"That's part of the lure of hot chicken," he said.</p><p>This doesn't mean that hoards of customers are coming in requesting the top three spice levels available. Zone said that they're actually "not that popular."</p><p>But when first-time customers do feel adventurous, Zone makes sure to give them a small sample of what to expect.</p><p>"If people hear so much stuff about us, and it's their first time trying it, we don't want their experience to be ruined," Zone said. "And we keep it authentic for how hot it is in Nashville. We don't want to dumb it down just for sales."</p><h2>A nuanced heat</h2><p>Novelty chip challenges, extreme peppers, and hot chicken satisfy the appetite of a small base of thrill seekers — while millions of others just watch — but our dishes aren't necessarily getting hotter.</p><p>In fact, the pendulum could be swinging the other way.</p><p>Denise Purcell, vice president of content and education of Specialty Food Association, which highlights trends in global, artisanal foods, told Business Insider that more and more food retailers and purveyors are thinking about how to incorporate heat to complement the foods we eat rather than overpowering our experience.</p><p>"The trend seemed to be the hotter, the better — like ghost pepper and whatever the hottest pepper is," Purcell said. "Let's see if people could handle it. And that is giving way a little bit to this more nuanced heat idea, where it's not just all about burning your tongue and seeing what your tolerance is. It's heat that enhances the flavor. It's things like hot honey we see now in a lot of menus and a lot of packaged products."</p><p>The push to incorporate a more nuanced heat is also being commercialized, as fast food companies roll out sweet and spicy products or sauces.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/popeyes-fried-chicken-review-2017-8">Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen</a> intermittently brings back its hot honey sauce and chicken. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-facts-mcdonalds-hamburgers">McDonald's</a> last month released its Sweet &amp; Spicy Jam sauce for a limited time, which incorporates Szechuan peppercorn and cayenne pepper, according to the fast food restaurant.</p><p>For Zone, the spicy foods he's intimately familiar with are dishes from one of many Thai restaurants that dot Los Angeles and have incorporated a balance of sweet and spicy like larb or yum nua.</p><p>"In all these different Thai classics, the sugar balances out the spice," he said. "And so how long have they been serving that? Hundreds of years."</p>

Viral hot sauce challenges have fueled a $100 million chile pepper arms race

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-habitat-iii-and-why-does-it-matter-a-beginners-guide-to-the-new-urban-agenda-65500"></a><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Habitat III - <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-habitat-iii-and-why-does-it-matter-a-beginners-guide-to-the-new-urban-agenda-65500">the United Nation's global conference on the future of cities</a> - has come to a close.</p><p>About 30,000 people gathered in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss the key issues facing cities today and sign off on the <a href="https://www2.habitat3.org/bitcache/97ced11dcecef85d41f74043195e5472836f6291?vid=588897&amp;disposition=inline&amp;op=view">New Urban Agenda</a> - the global strategy which will guide urban development over the next 20 years.</p><p>For four days, the Casa de la Cultura Benjamín Carrión - where most of the conference events took place - buzzed with action.</p><p>A range of diverse voices was heard in the conference precinct: from high ranking UN conference officials, to activists who fight every day for a more just city. UN-Habitat can take credit for a diverse and generally inclusive conference which delivered an optimistic - though somewhat ambiguous - outlook on the future of cities.</p><h2>An inclusive conference</h2><p>Efforts to make the conference inclusive - it was free and anyone could register - materialised in a big jamboree of all kinds of people interested in urban affairs (as well as complaints about long queues). The overall message of the conference emphasised the need to address social, economic and material inequalities in cities and urban areas.</p><p>Disadvantaged groups were widely represented at Habitat III. Most side events included representatives of the urban poor, such as organisations like <a href="http://knowyourcity.info/">Shack/Slum Dwellers International</a>.</p><p><keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">International</keyword> organisations which had previously ignored the significance of cities in international development - such as <a href="http://www.unido.org/unido-united-nations-industrial-development-organization.html">UNIDO</a> and the <a href="http://www.redcross.org.uk/">Red Cross</a> - pleaded to join an increasingly popular (and highly lucrative) urban field.</p><p>Yet international experts often appeared oblivious to the enormous progress that the poorest urban communities have made to organise themselves and finance their futures. During the sessions, questions from Ecuadorian students raised eyebrows, pointing towards unexamined assumptions that international experts take for granted - such as <a href="https://ayonadatta.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/what-is-smart-about-smart-cities-a-response-from-the-global-south/">what makes a city "smart"</a>.</p><h2>The New Urban Agenda</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Guillermo Granja/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Habitat III</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The main outcome of Habitat III was that UN nation states agreed on the New Urban Agenda (NUA): a non-binding document, which will guide policies over the next 20 years with the goal of making cities safer, resilient and sustainable and their amenities more inclusive.</p><p>The foundation for the 24-page document was <a href="http://unhabitat.org/issue-papers-and-policy-units/">a collection of papers</a> written by six policy units, made up of experts from around the world. The NUA itself emerged from a consultative process, whereby UN-Habitat collected the inputs of a diverse community of urban scholars, leaders, planners and activists.</p><p>The key message of the NUA was "leaving no one behind". This points towards a vision for the future of cities, where diverse urban aspirations of prosperity and sustainable development are linked by a desire for equality.</p><p>Yet the document did not escape criticism. Its reliance on experts generated scepticism about whether the NUA could actually integrate grassroots perspectives. Meanwhile, the consensual approach - which involved redrafting the NUA a total of five times - has led to the avoidance of polemic issues. For example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/19/un-new-urban-agenda-inclusive-cities-lgbtq-rights-habitat-3">LGBTQ rights were excluded</a> from the NUA at the request of a group of 17 countries, led by Belarus.</p><p>The impact of the NUA will depend on how it is put into practice. Neither the NUA nor Habitat III have clarified how the ideals outlined should be achieved. So for the moment, the text can be thought of as a series of important goals - the consequences of which will only become evident during implementation.</p><h2>Urban leaders</h2><p>The role of city governments in implementing the NUA was one of the big issues discussed at Habitat III. The <a href="https://habitat3.org/programme/world-mayors-assembly/">World Mayors' Assembly</a> which preceded Habitat III asserted two key demands. One was that city, metropolitan and regional governments <a href="http://citiscope.org/habitatIII/news/2016/05/cities-clamour-seat-table-un-countries-club">should have a seat</a> at UN negotiation tables and be able to take decisions without the interference of national governments.</p><p>The other was that mayors want direct access to international finance. Some proposed that 20% to 25% of global finance for development - in instruments such as the Green Climate Fund - should be allocated directly to cities.</p><p>But the NUA is created by and for national governments. As a result, it often appears to prioritise the role of national policies which strategically coordinate urban development at the national level. This focus may become an obstacle for local governments seeking to implement the goals.</p><h2>The right to the city</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Guillermo Granja/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Thousands of pedestrians gather downtown for a lighting and chromalithe exhibition on a catholic church, as part of the UN Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador October 18, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The consensus around the "right to the city" - an idea championed by Ecuador and Brazil - was historical. The "right to the city" generally refers to the capacity of urban citizens to influence processes of urban development, and make a city they want to live in.</p><p>Social movements have promoted the "right to the city" to denounce urban processes that generate injustices, such as gentrification, <a href="https://theconversation.com/public-spaces-are-going-private-and-our-cities-will-suffer-60460">privatisation of public spaces</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/vila-autodromo-the-favela-fighting-back-against-rios-olympic-development-52393">forced evictions</a> and the mistreatment of urban refugees. But the inclusion of the "right to the city" in the NUA meant watering it down, because it is not explicitly recognised as a universal human right. Instead, the NUA merely encourages governments to enshrine the right to the city in their laws.</p><p>Contradictions are already beginning to emerge around the right to the city. For instance, one representative from the Senegal delegation kicked off a high level round table on financing sustainable urban development by explaining that informal settlements are often situated on high-value land. This value, he argued, can be cashed by local governments if dwellers are willing to relocate.</p><p>However, this representative did not explain that this means of gathering finances often entails local governments leading a process of urban gentrification. Research on <a href="https://www.bshf.org/publications/how-people-face-evictions-lessons-from-people-led-initiatives/">forced evictions</a> has documented the tremendous negative impacts that relocation has on the livelihoods and well-being of displaced people. This is just one of many contradictions which will become visible as the NUA is implemented.</p><p>Habitat III brought together thought leaders on the future of urban areas, fostering dialogue and collaboration. It will have a lasting impact on efforts to address urbanisation - one of the global challenges of our time.</p><p><em>This is part of a series on publicly funded UK research at the UN Habitat III summit in Quito, Ecuador. It is a collaboration between the <a href="http://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/">Urban Transformations Network</a>, UK Economic and Social Research Council and <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation UK</a>.</em></p><p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/vanesa-castan-broto-226152">Vanesa Castán Broto</a>, Senior Lecturer Environment and Sustainable Development, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/ucl-1885">UCL</a></em></span></p><p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happened-at-habitat-iii-the-worlds-biggest-conference-on-cities-66146">original article</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/animated-map-bottled-water-springs-dasani-aquafina-2016-10">Animated map shows where your bottled water actually comes from</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JzdmR1NjE6PyYq7of1kM38y5ovwgxXYM" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here are 4 big takeaways from the world's biggest conference on the future of cities

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>NUA Robotics/Screenshot</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>At CES 2016, there's no shortage of wacky smart home gadgets.</p><p>The biggest tech companies are unveiling everything from a <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/tv-rolls-up-like-newspaper-7118711">TV screen you can roll up like a newspaper</a> to a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lgs-new-fridge-lets-you-knock-to-see-contents-and-has-a-motion-sensor-open-2016-1">fridge that lets you see what's inside</a> without even opening the door.</p><p>One of the cooler things we've seen is a piece of smart luggage. NUA Robotics, an Israeli robotics company, has been showing off its smart suitcase prototype at CES this week.</p><p>The premise of the carry-on suitcase is that it connects via Bluetooth through a smartphone app, so you'll always know where your suitcase is.</p><p>The suitcase itself has a built-in camera sensor, and it can follow you around on flat surfaces - like through an airport. If NUA Robotics' suitcase goes to market, you might never have to drag your own luggage around by yourself ever again.</p><p>Besides being able to follow you around, the NUA carry-on suitcase promises to charge your devices, and it has an anti-theft alarm. (I can see the latter feature quickly backfiring, but it's a nice idea.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mashable</span></p><p class="caption">This smart suitcase follows you around so you don't have to drag it.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In addition, the company has wider hopes for its technology. Bluetooth pairing and built-in sensors could allow any number of devices to become automated. Think of the manual work you have to do at the store when you push around a shopping cart. If that becomes automated and connects to your phone via Bluetooth, it could just follow you around the store as you do your grocery shopping for the week.</p><p>While it's not on the market yet, NUA says it's hoping to have a piece of luggage available to customers in a year or so. </p><p>Mashable captured a video of the smart suitcase. Here's what it's like in action:</p><p></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-warner-cable-hack-email-addresses-phishing-cybertheft-stolen-2016-1">Time Warner Cable says up to 320,000 customers may have had their passwords stolen</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="UwbHkxMDE6JxuG_VyCTg_GW_jEWvE6lP" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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