1. Chile was brought to the New World by the Spanish.

False. Long before the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in the New World, the Incas, Mayas and Aztecs had been using the chile pepper to spice up their culinary dishes, to temper their medical ailments, to buy and trade goods, and to bring them closer to the gods. The Spanish learned quickly the delights of the hot peppers and quickly integrated them into their own diet.

2. Chiles have been in existence over 10,000 years.

True. Archeologists have found a whole chile pod in a Peruvian cave that dates back to 6500 B.C. and chile seeds in Mexico that date back to 7500 B.C. They believe chiles were harvested wild at this time and cultivated as a crop by 3300 B.C.

3. Chiles are categorized by horticulturists as vegetables.

False. Horticulturists classify the chile pepper as a "fruit." Botanists classify it as a "berry." The general population calls green chile a vegetable and red chile a spice.

4. The seeds are what make chile peppers hot.

False. Actually, the glands at the junction of the placenta and the pod wall produce capsaicin, the chemical that gives chile its heat. Because the seeds are attached to the placenta, people mistakenly think the seeds are the origin of the heat.

5. Eating chile peppers burns calories.

True. Chile has been found to speed up the body's metabolic rate by setting off a thermodynamic burn which can lead to weight loss. In fact, according to Dr. Bryant Stamford at the University of Louisville at Kentucky, eating several small meals with chile peppers throughout the day instead of the traditional three, can enhance this effect on the metabolism, "spurring the body on to burn more calories."

6. The New Mexican green chile and New Mexican red chile are different varieties.

False. Red chile is the mature version of the green chile.

7. Chile peppers make you feel good in the same way that exercise gives you a "high."

True. Capsaicinoids irritate the trigeminal nerve cells (the pain receptors in the mouth, nose and stomach), releasing the chemical messenger Substance P. This causes the brain to produce endorphins, the morphine-like natural painkillers that give the body a sense of well-being. The "runners' high" is caused by these same endorphins.

8. Chile seeds were first spread by birds.

True. Scientists agree that birds were mostly responsible for the spread of chile seeds throughout South and Central America. The birds loved the wild chile plants' long red fruits, ate them whole and spread the seeds along miles and miles of ground via their waste.

9. The Incas worshipped the chile pepper, considering it to be holy.

True. The Incas believed that the chile pepper was holy and restricted it from their diet during their religious feasts.

10. Chile peppers are related to black pepper.

False. Chile peppers are part of the nightshade family, related to tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants NOT black pepper. However, when Columbus first arrived in the New World, he believed he had arrived in the Spice Islands, the East Indies. Therefore, he called the natives Indians' and the chile "pepper," thinking it was black pepper.