One man's hot sauce is another man's hell.

The city of Irwindale, California has filed a lawsuit asking for Huy Fong Foods to cease production of its iconic Sriracha sauce after residents complained that smells emanating from the factory have caused them physical harm and driven them from their homes.

While Huy Fong is not the originator of Sriracha, the company's distinctive green-topped, rooster-bedecked rendition of the Thai chili sauce has become a staple on mainstream grocery store shelves, professional kitchen lines, restaurant tables and cafeteria condiment stands since the company's CEO and founder, David Tran, fired up U.S. production in 1983.

Consumer devotion to the brand burns deeply enough to have inspired two cookbooks ("The Sriracha Cookbook" and "The Veggie-Lover's Sriracha Cookbook"), a limited-edition flavor of Lay's potato chips, embroidery, jewelry other art projects.

A Kickstarter for a documentary on Sriracha exceeded its $5000 goal by over $16,000, web humorist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal wrote and illustrated an ode to his beloved condiment (shared on Facebook by over 300,000 people), and YouTube veritably sizzles with songs, reviews, skits and odes to "rooster sauce."

But the pepper sauce that kindles such adoration in its fans is reportedly scorching the olfactory systems of the factory's neighbors. According to the complaint filed with Los Angeles Superior Court by the city of Irwindale, the stench of cooking peppers isn't just unpleasant - it's painful.

Watery eyes, stinging throats and headaches are par for the course, say city officials who have been fielding complaints since the Huy Fong factory kicked up its season's pepper production. The company produced 20 million bottles of Sriracha in 2012 (that's $60 million dollars worth of pepper sauce) with no advertising - just the passionate word-of-tingling-mouth passed on by its legions of fans. For most of its lifespan, Huy Fong produced the condiment in a residential area of Rosemead, California with no issues, but moved to Irwindale earlier this year.

All of the peppers (hybrid jalapeños which are blended with vinegar, salt, sugar and garlic) for the year's run of sauce are processed from September to December after the harvest, and that's when the complaints kicked in.

Neighbor Edward Anthony told KCAL, "Every morning it smells like chili powder. It's irritating." At least 30 complaints were received by the city, and officials kicked off an investigation.

Irwindale city manager John Davidson says that inspectors have found the interior of the factory to be fine, but "You go to the exterior, and it's horrible," he told KCAL.

The city's lawsuit would require Huy Fong to cease production until it files a plan to lessen the impact on the community - and that has Sriracha devotees hot under the collar.

"The Days of a Sriracha Black Market Are Approaching" declared a headline in The Atlantic, while social media was ablaze with talk of hoarding, at-home recipes and potential price hikes.

The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman told CNN in an e-mail,

"I personally would relish in the opportunity to live in a neighborhood bathed in rooster sauce. The thought of watching a blood-red sunrise soaked in clouds of red peppers and garlic would pretty much be my ideal morning. I feel like our country is still recovering from the near Twinkie extinction in 2012, and now we get hit with this?

The dinosaurs had their meteorite. We've got our Sriracha shortage. If a Sriracha shortage isn't one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, then I don't know what is. Now is the time to stock your fallout shelters full of tasty rooster juice. The end is nigh."

But before consumers start building armored sauce transport tanks and installing Sriracha kegs in their rec rooms, they should know that engineers are at work on a solution. Adam Holliday, director of operations for Huy Fong Foods told the Los Angeles Times that a consultant suggested a $600,000 cleaning system that would burn the pepper from the air before it breached the factory walls, but it's a "big expense" and the company is in search of its own solution.

A judge is expected to rule on the shutdown on Thursday. Perhaps if it doesn't go Huy Fong's way, the company should turn to their fans for a creative end to this burning issu

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I will buy their houses pls. I love me some Cock Sauce.

 kirsanth wrote:
I saw this on the news and was somewhat sympathetic for the folks that have lived there for more than 30 years the factory has been doing that.

 Ahtman wrote:
Since the new factory was a erected this was a problem that was just waiting to raise its head.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I will buy their houses pls. I love me some Cock Sauce.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I will buy their houses pls. I love me some Cock Sauce.

Anyone need a new sig?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I will buy their houses pls. I love me some Cock Sauce.

Anyone need a new sig?

What aaround here it is calle cock sauce......
DAMNIT!!!!!!!!

 KingCracker wrote:
You didn't read the entire article did you?

 kirsanth wrote:

 KingCracker wrote:
You didn't read the entire article did you?

No, I didn't; that seemed implied.

I also like the fact that there are towns asking for the company to move it's factory _to_ them since this one has issue.

 d-usa wrote:
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/10/30/oooh-burn-sriracha-factory-neighbors-complain-about-smell/?hpt=hp_t3

A judge is expected to rule on the shutdown on Thursday. Perhaps if it doesn't go Huy Fong's way, the company should turn to their fans for a creative end to this burning issu

 daedalus wrote:
I survive living within a 5 block radius to the Budweiser brewery. The town smells like rotting grain if the wind is right. If the wind is wrong, then it smells like sewer and rotting grain.

I can't imagine what living next to the Rooster Sauce factory is like, but if it's like eating the sauce, then I think they're getting off easy by comparison.

Sriracha plant must cease operations that cause odors, judge rules
Judge rules again Sriracha plant
November 26, 2013, 9:07 p.m.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered a Sriracha hot sauce plant in Irwindale to partially shut down in response to smell complaints from nearby residents.

Judge Robert H. O'Brien ruled in favor of the city and ordered sauce maker Huy Fong Foods to cease any kind of operations that could be causing the odors and make immediate changes that would help mitigate them.

The injunction does not order the company to stop operating entirely, or specify the types of actions that are required.

The city of Irwindale sued Huy Fong Foods on Oct. 21 after nearby residents complained of heartburn, inflamed asthma and even nosebleeds that they said were caused by the spicy odor coming from the hot sauce plant.

O'Brien acknowledged in his ruling that there was a "lack of credible evidence" linking the stated health problems to the odor, but said that the odor appears to be "extremely annoying, irritating and offensive to the senses warranting consideration as a public nuisance."

He also wrote that the odor could be "reasonably inferred to be emanating from the facility," and determined that the city is "likely to prevail" in declaring the odor a public nuisance, according to the ruling.

Irwindale officials applauded the judge's decision.

"We believe it's a strong ruling that acknowledges and is reflective of the concerns that the community has raised about the health impacts of the odor," said City Atty. Fred Galante.

Huy Fong officials did not return requests for comment Tuesday evening.

The ruling will take effect as soon as the judge signs the injunction, which Galante says will be filed as early as Wednesday.

It is unclear what the ruling means for next year's supply of Sriracha hot sauce. The factory harvests and grinds chilis for three months out of the year, and the grinding of this year's chilis has been completed.

But the mixing and the bottling of the sauce occurs on an ongoing basis. Galante said he did not know if the injunction applies to those aspects of production.

The city's goal is not to stop the production of the sauce, Galante said.

"We're going to try to keep having a conversation with Huy Fong and working out some collaborative way to test and make sure the odor problems are addressed," he said.

The case could still go to trial, but Galante said that the city hopes the matter can be resolved out of court.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
My mom just ordered me 5 more bottles of the stuff. So I am fine

Ahtman wrote:Since the new factory was a erected this was a problem that was just waiting to raise its head.

Gitkikka wrote:They may incur stiff penalties.

kronk wrote:The judge will probably give them the shaft, unless their lawyers can find a loophole to reach around.

Ouze wrote:What is beyond dispute, however, is that they have plunged themselves deep into a tight spot and they now have a real sticky situation all over their hands.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I will buy their houses pls. I love me some Cock Sauce.

Anyone need a new sig?