It might depend on the brand. I have bought Cento Arrabiata Sauce for years and mostly use in in recipes like chicken cacciatore. To my taste, it's spicy but not as hot as a regular salsa.

Clare, thanks for the warning, I sure won't buy any, I do not like extremely hot and spicy, I'm a wimp!

Annie

The company should label it hot. But I guess they just assumed that you would know that Arrabbiata sauce was hot and spicy. It is one of my favourite quick to make sauces.

Cooks in no time at all and if you make it from scratch you can adjust the heat to suit your own taste.

Basically just olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, hot red pepper flakes, and parsley. Sometimes you will find it with a little pancetta added and fresh basil.

Ann

Rather than throw it out, why not mix it with plain sauce, and thus, you've got double the amount, with 1/2 the spice? I love hot and spicy anything, but YMMV.

I understand your distress, but I really don't think everything needs a warning label.

Well - I am another fan of Arrbiata and have found there is a huge difference in heat level depending on the brand. Sorry the one you got was too spicy for you, and I probably would try to dilute it down with another sauce or freeze it in small containers to add to a mild sauce whenever you have it again.

Alexa

Never had it, never heard of it, but I want some!

A bit of trivia from Wiki:

All'arrabbiata means "angry style", named as such due to the heat of the peppers.

(Actually, I always give my serving of pasta & sauce a healthy shake of crushed red peppers so maybe I've been eating it all along & didn't know it!)

Ci_lantro, you'd probably love it, then. :)

The heat can vary by brand, but the very nature of the sauce is spicy. I guess they don't label like salsa it because all arrabbiata sauce is spicy whereas "salsa' is a word like "soup" in that it loosely defines the form of the food but not the ingredients or flavor.

Ah......penne all'arrabbiata ! I make my own, and it's not nearly as hot as the stuff you buy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Penne All'arrabbiata.... the food is hot

I don't mind a little heat but I think they threw in the whole jar of hot pepper flakes, not just a tablespoon or two. I like hot pepper flakes, just in very small doses, and have even put some on my pasta or pizza.

I tried diluting it with a large can of tomatoes after we found it was so hot, but it just made the tomatoes hot rather then the other way around.
Clare

I love a spicy hot pasta sauce. Of course, I love spicy hot anything.

A warning label is problematical. How do you define hot? I have eaten things I thought fairly bland, only to have a friend sputter and complain. Likewise, I've eaten dishes others said were just a bit spicy, and had tears running down my face as I ate! Reading ingredients on an unfamiliar product is probably your best bet, although even that can be chancy as just the inclusion of red peppers, for example, doesn't tell you how many!

One Indian restaurant I used to frequent brought new diners a single, fried samosa type turnover, spiced to what the chef considered "medium-hot" to help their customers determine how spicy to order their food. It was a good system.

I agree, spicy foods should be labeled, at least with the spicy ingredients displayed prominently on the label.

I don't like things very spicy, for me, it ruins the taste of perfectly good food. I just bought two packages of New England Country Soup. They looked good and I eat soup at work every day. Well......the white bean soup was so spicy it was inedible, even with the addition of three large spoonfuls of sour cream. Turns out, there are jalapeno peppers in the soup, but that info is buried in the ingredients, in a tiny, tiny font.

I would love to have known that and not wasted $5. Looks like the chicken corn chowder has cayenne pepper, hopefully, not too much.

Arrabbiata ids a favourite of mine too but I love spicy! The resident wimp doesn't do heat of any type so I have it rarely, usually when we go out for dinner.

However when I can my tomato sauce I always do one small arribbiata batch for those times I'm on my own. I use fresh hot peppers in it and trust me it has a kick!

As for labelinjg, I think extra spicy would clue most in 'cause very hot is not to most peoples palate and Arribbiata is not a term many my be familiar with

Loosely translated, penne all' arrabbiata means "angry penne". So they did warn you -- just not in English. :)

Seriously, I understand that you're upset it wasn't what you expected or like, but I don't think there was any intention to deceive. Out of curiosity, I checked several seriously hot items in my pantry. Not a warning label in sight. Take cajun spice mixtures, for example. I use them liberally, and you undoubtedly use them in very moderate amounts since you can't tolerate much heat. But we both know this simply because of familiarity -- not because Tony or Emeril 'warned' us. In the same way, arrabbiata is (by definition) a highly-spiced sauce. I think the manufacturer just assumed you would know...

I have a wonderful recipe if anyone would like it. It's sooo quick and easy. I think your family would love it, aptosca, if you cut the pepper flakes way, way down...say from 'mad as hell' to 'just slightly miffed'. :) The bonus is it's *real* cheap when you make it yourself.