Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions can last up to thirty minutes, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner. Competitive eating is most popular in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, where organized professional eating contests often offer prizes, including cash.

History

The first recorded pie eating contest took place in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in 1878. It was organised as a charity fundraising event and won by Albert Piddington. It is not known how many pies were consumed. The prize was a “Handsomely Bound Book”. Following this, eating contestsparticularly those involving piebecame popular across Canada and the United States, traditionally at county fairs. There are some notable examples of early eating contestants, such as Joe McCarthy, who consumed 31 pies in a competition held at Charles Tanby's Saloon in 1897. Frank Dotzler is also noteworthy after consuming “275 oysters, 8 & 1/8th pounds of steak, 12 rolls, and 3 large pies, all washed down with 11 cups of coffee” at an event organised by the Manhattan Fat Men's Club in 1909. The recent surge in the popularity of competitive eating is due in large part to the development of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual holiday tradition that has been held on July 4 every year since 1916 at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

. While the origins are debated, it is believed to have begun as a result of four immigrants who tried to eat as many hot dogs as possible to show off their patriotism. In 2010, however, promoter Mortimer Matz admitted to having fabricated the legend of the 1916 start date with a man named Max Rosey in the early 1970s as part of a publicity stunt. The legend grew over the years, to the point where ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and other publications were known to have repeatedly listed 1916 as the inaugural year, although no evidence of the contest exists. As Coney Island is often linked with recreational activities of the summer season, several early contests were held on other holidays associated with summer besides Independence Day;

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

contests were scheduled for 1972, 1975, and 1978, and a second 1972 event was held on

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

The organisation of

Major League Eating Major League Eating (MLE) is an organization that organises professional competitive eating events and television specials. The stated mission of Major League Eating is to maintain a safe environment for all events, to create a dynamic and enjoya ...

(MLE) in 1997 was also a key development in the increasing popularity. The organisation is responsible for between 70 and 80 eating contests per year across North America, most notably Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has aired on ESPN since 2003. The most successful male competitor is

Joey Chestnut Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. As of 2022, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He is a California native and resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut's height is ; his wei ...

, who has won a total fifteen times since 2007. He is the current champion as of 2022. Chestnut also holds the record for most hot dogs consumed in the contest, with 76 in 2021. The second most successful is

Takeru Kobayashi , also known as Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, is a Japanese competitive eater. Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", Kobayashi is a six-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and is widely credited with popularizing the spor ...

, who won six consecutive titles from 2001 to 2006. Both men hold multiple world records relating to eating, with Kobayashi holding 5, and Chestnut 14.

Bob Shoudt Bob Shoudt (born October 16, 1966), also known as "Humble Bob" or "Notorious B.O.B." (the name of his YouTube channel), is an American competitive eater from Royersford, Pennsylvania. He holds a number of eating records, including the most food ...

"Notorious B.O.B." won the largest prize ever in a professional eating contest in the 2017 Philadelphia Wing Bowl - $50,000 in prizes (Hyundai Santa Fe, $10,000, ring and medallion). In 2011, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest introduced a female only tournament. The most successful competitor in this contest is

Miki Sudo Miki Sudo (born ) is an American competitive eater. She won the women's competition at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 2014 to 2020, unseating Sonya Thomas, who had won the women's competition since its inception in 2011. S ...

, with seven consecutive wins since 2014. She is the reigning female champion as of 2020 and also holds the record for most hot dogs eaten by a female contestant, with 48.5. She currently holds 3 world records.

Contest structure

Food

The type of food used in contests varies greatly, with each contest typically only using one type of food (e.g. a hot dog eating contest). Foods used in professional eating contests include

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

s, hot dogs,

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), sweete ...

pancake A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying w ...

s, chicken wings,

asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

stinging nettle ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. ...

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...

, ribs, whole

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

s, among many other types of food. Foods can reflect local cultures, such as

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

hot dogs in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Rules and overview of events

Competitive eating contests often adhere to an 8, 10, 12, or 15 minute time limit. Most contests are presided over by a master of ceremonies, whose job is to announce the competitors prior to the contest and keep the audience engaged throughout the contest with enthusiastic play-by-play commentary and amusing anecdotes. A countdown from 10 usually takes place at the end of the contest, with all eating coming to an end with the expiration of time. Many professional contests also employ a series of judges, whose role is to enforce the contest rules and warn eaters about infractions. Judges will also be called upon to count or weigh each competitor's food and certify the results of the contest prior to the winner being announced. Many eaters will attempt to put as much food in their mouths as possible during the final seconds of a contest, a practice known by professionals as "chipmunking". If chipmunking is allowed in a contest, eaters are given a reasonable amount of time (typically less than two minutes) to swallow the food or risk a deduction from their final totals. In many contests, eaters are allowed to dunk foods in water or other liquids in order to soften the food and make it easier to chew and swallow. Dunking typically takes place with foods involving a bun or other doughy parts. Professional contests often enforce a limit on the number of times competitors are allowed to dunk food. Competitors are required to maintain a relatively clean eating surface throughout the contest. Excess debris after the contest results in a deduction from the eater's final totals. If, at any point during or immediately after the contest, a competitor regurgitates any food, he or she will be disqualified. Vomiting, also known as a "reversal", or, as ESPN and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest call it, a "reversal of fortune", includes obvious signs of vomiting as well as any small amounts of food that may fall from the mouth deemed by judges to have come from the stomach. Small amounts of food already in the mouth prior to swallowing are excluded from this rule.

Training and preparation

Many professional competitive eaters undergo rigorous personal training in order to increase their stomach capacity and eating speed with various foods. Stomach elasticity is usually considered the key to eating success, and competitors commonly train by drinking large amounts of water over a short time to stretch out the stomach. Others combine the consumption of water with large quantities of low calorie foods such as vegetables or salads. Some eaters chew large amounts of gum in order to build jaw strength. Perhaps paradoxically, maintaining a low

body fat percentage The body fat percentage (BFP) of a human or other living being is the total mass of fat divided by total body mass, multiplied by 100; body fat includes essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat is necessary to maintain life and ...

is thought to be helpful in competitive eating; this is known as the

belt of fat theory In competitive eating, the belt of fat theory posits that, paradoxically, those who have a higher body fat percentage are less well positioned to win contests. This is due to the eponymous "belt of fat" around the midsections of competitors, made ...

. For a marquee event like the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, some eaters, like current contest champion Joey Chestnut, will begin training several months before the event with personal time trials using the contest food. Retired competitive eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis trained by consuming entire heads of boiled cabbage followed by drinking up to two gallons of water every day for two weeks before a contest. Due to the risks involved with training alone or without emergency medical supervision, the IFOCE actively discourages training of any sort.

Organizations

All Pro Eating

All Pro Eating Competitive Eaters include

Molly Schuyler Molly Schuyler is an American competitive eater. In 2013, she signed with the competitive eating organization All Pro Eating. She has stated that she "usually swallows her food whole." Career In August 2012, she became the first woman to comple ...

, Eric "Silo" Dahl, Jamie "The Bear" McDonald and Stephanie "Xanadu" Torres (deceased).

IFOCE

The

International Federation of Competitive Eating Major League Eating (MLE) is an organization that organises professional competitive eating events and television specials. The stated mission of Major League Eating is to maintain a safe environment for all events, to create a dynamic and enjoya ...

(IFOCE) hosts nearly 50 "Major League Eating" events across North America every year.

Other challenges

Other eating contests sponsored by restaurants can involve a challenge to eat large or extraordinarily spicy food items, including giant

steak A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patti ...

s and

curries A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...

in a set amount of time. Those who finish the item are often rewarded by getting the item for free, a T-shirt and the addition of their name and/or photo on a wall of challenge victors. For example, Ward's House of Prime located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has a prime rib meat challenge. The current record is 360 ounces by Molly Schuyler in June 2017. Various challenges of this type are featured in the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

show '' Man v. Food''.

Televised contests

* The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has been held every

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

since the 1970s, is televised live on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

from

in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. * The annual

Krystal Square Off The Krystal Square Off was the official World Hamburger Eating Championship from 2004 to 2009, taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee and sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). In this event, contestants ate as m ...

hamburger eating contest has been televised on ESPN. * In 2002, the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

aired a two-hour competitive eating contest called the Glutton Bowl. *

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

(now the Paramount Network) broadcast several IFOCE-sanctioned competitive eating competitions as part of its "MLE Chowdown" series.

Criticisms and dangers

Criticisms

One criticism of competitive eating is the message that the gluttonous sport sends as

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

levels rise among Americans, and the example it sets for youth.Vasel, Kathryn.
Competitive Eating Contests Bring in the Dough
." '' FoxBusiness.com.'' January 31, 2008. Retrieved on July 4, 2009. In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, eating contests have been criticized for their promotion of

food waste Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...

and "celebration of gluttony" in a time of rising of

childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence o ...

; China passed a law in 2021 which banned competitive eating competitions and "

mukbang A mukbang or meokbang ( ko, 먹방, ), also known as an eating show, is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a host consumes various quantities of food while interacting with the audience. It became popular in South Korea in 2010, and has s ...

" binge-eating videos in an effort to combat food waste, with offenders facing fines of up to 100,000 Yuan. Psychiatrist and

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...

specialist Kim Dennis has stated that "somebody eating 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes is self-abuse to some extent" and warned that competitive eating carries "risks with regards to development of an eating disorder for people who had any sort of genetic predisposition to have one". Competitive eater

Patrick Bertoletti Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti is an American competitive eater from Chicago. Competitive eating career 2007 On January 2, 2007, he became the first person to complete the Sasquatch Burger Contest at Bigfoot Lodge Cafe in Memphis, Tennessee ...

has compared competitive eating itself to an eating disorder, stating "It's like controlled

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

. It's bulimia where you get paid for it. It's me trading on an eating disorder for money."

Dangers

Negative health effects of competitive eating include delayed stomach emptying, aspiration pneumonia, perforation of the stomach, Boerhaave syndrome, and

. Other medical professionals contend that

binge eating Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is a common symptom of eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an ...

can cause stomach perforations in those with ulcers and gulping large quantities of water during training can lead to

water intoxication Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, hyperhydration, overhydration, or water toxemia, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe l ...

, a condition caused by diluted

electrolytes An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon di ...

in the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

. Long term effects of delayed stomach emptying include chronic

indigestion Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

, nausea and vomiting. Discomfort following an event is common with nausea, heartburn, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. People may also use

laxatives Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lub ...

or force themselves to vomit following the event, with associated risks. Retired competitive eater Don "Moses" Lerman said that he would "stretch isstomach until it causes

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity dep ...

" in competitions.

Deaths

Most deaths in competitive eating competitions have occurred from

choking Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen dep ...

. *In October 2012, a 32-year-old man died while competitively eating live roaches and

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

s. An autopsy revealed he choked to death. *In July 2013, a 64-year-old Australian man, Bruce Holland, died after choking during a pie eating contest. *On July 4, 2014, a 47-year-old competitive eater choked to death during a hot dog eating contest. *On March 11, 2016, a 45-year-old Indonesian man choked to death in a KFC speed-eating competition organized by an outside firm. *At a

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic uni ...

event on April 2, 2017, a 20-year-old female student died as a result of a pancake eating contest. She died by choking. *On August 13, 2019, a 41-year-old man choked to death after competing in an amateur taco eating competition at a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game. *On January 26, 2020, a woman died in

Hervey Bay Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

after choking in a

lamington A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, gi ...

-eating contest on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

. *On October 17, 2021, Madie Nicpon, a 20-year-old

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

student, died after choking and falling unconscious during a hot dog eating contest.

Notable competitive eaters

Peter Czerwinski Peter Czerwinski (born Piotr Czerwinski; November 30, 1985), better known by his stage name Furious Pete, is a Canadian competitive eater and YouTube personality. Czerwinski currently holds fourteen Guinness World Records in eating. Early life and ...

, aka Furious Pete *

* Matt Stonie *

Sonya Thomas Sonya Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung on July 26, 1967), also known by her nickname The Black Widow, and "The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus", is a South Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined ...

References

External links

EatFeats - competitive eating blog, database & calendar
eatfeats.com
All Pro Eating Promotions
CompetitiveEaters.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Competitive Eating Individual sports Sports entertainment