Paul C.P. McIlhenny | Tabasco firm chief, 68

Paul C.P. McIlhenny, 68, chief executive and board chairman of the McIlhenny Co. that makes the trademarked line of Tabasco hot pepper sauces sold the world over, has died.

The company, based on south Louisiana's Avery Island, said in a statement released Sunday that Mr. McIlhenny had died Saturday. The statement credited Mr. McIlhenny's leadership with introducing several new varieties of hot sauces sold under the Tabasco brand and for greatly expanding their global reach.

Mr. McIlhenny was a member of a storied clan whose 145-year-old company has been producing the original world-famous Tabasco sauce for several generations, since shortly after the Civil War. The statement said he joined the company in 1967 and directly oversaw production and quality of all products sold under the Tabasco brand for 13 years.

Mr. McIlhenny also worked tirelessly to develop an array of items that could be marketed and emblazoned with the Tabasco logo from T-shirts and aprons and neckties to stuffed toy bears and computer screensavers, the Times-Picayune of New Orleans noted. The newspaper first reported the death and noted he was an executive with a keen sense of humor, once notably quipping: "We're defending the world against bland food." - AP