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What Hot Sauce Labels Really Mean

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Plus, why Sriracha is so popular.

From Tabasco to Sriracha, nearly every culture has its own take on hot sauce, but rarely do we look beyond what's inside the bottle. PBS' Idea Channel takes an in-depth look at the outside of some of the most popular sauce bottles out there and discerns that there are common motifs: Jamaican and island-style hot sauce labels "tend to have animals on them," while Mexican and South American bottles "tend to show a pretty lady or their country of origin."

The clip also breaks down the four most common themes found on American hot sauce labels before diving into just what makes hot sauce so appealing to the nation: "Hot sauces make food exciting by turning it into a challenge, they turn mealtime into a competition. Two things that Americans love."

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