A cooling-off period has been called in the fight between the makers of a popular hot sauce and the US city that says its air is too spicy to bear.

The Irwindale City Council in southern California has delayed a decision for two weeks on declaring the Sriracha plant a public nuisance. Irwindale's city attorney requested the delay, saying he is in settlement talks with lawyers for Sriracha maker Huy Fong Foods.

Two weeks ago, council members tentatively but unanimously voted the two-year-old plant was a nuisance. If the council had finalised its vote, Huy Fong would have had 90 days to stop releasing the spicy emanations that neighbours say are burning their eyes and throats.

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