Sriracha plant tours available ahead of chili grinding season

IRWINDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- Sriracha is opening up its plant to visitors and hoping complaints about the stinky chili grinding season are a thing of the past.

The public got a firsthand look inside the Huy Fong Foods plant Monday; the company showing how it makes its famous hot chili sauce.

From the mixing of the different ingredients to the bottling of the spicy sauce, hot sauce lovers and the curious got a close up view of it all. Chili grinding season at the plant kicks off next month.

Last year, that season is what lead to the city of Irwindale filing suit against the company claiming the odor emanating from the plant during grinding season was a public nuisance.

Irwindale Mayor Mark Breceda says the city took action against the company because some people complained they got sick from the odor.

"It wasn't to shut the plant down itself just to shut down the grinding of the chili," Breceda said. "It was enough to make you cough, it irritated your throat."

Eunice Calderon lives a block from the plant and says it has never bothered her.

"I have severe asthma and it doesn't bother me at all, and if it was as bad as everybody says, it would really bother me a lot," Calderon said.

The company's chili grinding season is four months long beginning in August.

Officials say the company's owner David Tran has put in an air filtration system to mitigate the pungent odor, so the mayor says the Irwindale City Council tabled the lawsuit.

"He's changed it from a regular filtration system to carbon filters so at that point we will see if it has a problem," Breceda said.

"I don't expect any complaints coming from anybody anytime soon during the grinding season," Huy Fong Foods spokesperson Darlene Danh said.

The true smell test will take place next month when chili grinding seasons kicks off.