Competitive eating
Competitive eating, also known as speed eating, is a contest where participants race to consume the largest quantity of food within a set time limit, typically between eight and ten minutes. Events are often held outdoors and can feature various food items, with notable competitions including Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has taken place annually since 1916. Competitive eaters often train extensively, focusing on increasing stomach capacity and developing techniques for efficient eating and breathing. Despite the apparent physical demands, many top competitors maintain a fit physique and manage to earn significant income through prize money and appearances, with some earning between $100,000 and $250,000 annually.
While competitive eating is popular in countries like the United States, Japan, and Canada, the activity has raised health concerns. Physicians warn about potential risks such as ulcers, diabetes, and water intoxication due to the extreme nature of the contests. Nonetheless, the only documented injury directly linked to competitive eating has been a fractured jaw. These contests attract a diverse audience and continue to be a unique intersection of sport and entertainment.
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Competitive eating
Competitive eating, sometimes called speed eating, is a race to see which participant can consume the largest quantity of food in the shortest amount of time. Contests vary in time but often range between eight and ten minutes. Competitive eating contests offer cash prizes and are sometimes televised. The United States, Japan, and Canada host the largest number of competitive eating competitions each year.
According to Major League Eating, an organization that sanctions such contests, competitive eating began in 1916. The "sport" started out as pie-eating contests held at local fairs and then progressed to other foods. In 1920, two girls named Lois and Ruth Waddell won the Great Oyster Eating Contest; they consumed 204 oysters between them. Major League Eating, based in New York City, hosts between seventy and eighty competitions per year, including hot dog, wing, and pie-eating contests.
Surprisingly, most winners of competitive eating contests are fit, have a low body fat percentage, and often work out. Top competitive eaters earn between $250,000 - $500,000 a year in prize money and fees for live appearances.
Background
The most widely known and publicized annual competitive eating event is Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, held each Independence Day in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Competitors must qualify to compete in this annual event. This ensures that the contest features the greatest competitive eaters on Earth. The competition has been held each year since 1916, except for 1944, when it was canceled during World War II. In the mid-2020s, the record-holders were Joey Chestnut ("Jaws"), who consumed seventy-six hot dogs in 2021, and Miki Sudo, who ate fifty-one in 2024.
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest allows contestants ten minutes to eat as many hot dogs and buns as they can. "Dunking is allowed," which means that contestants can use a liquid of their choice during the competition. Many competitive eaters believe that dunking helps the food settle in their stomach, allowing them to eat a larger quantity of food faster.
In 2024, the prize for winning Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was $10,000 for the top male and female finishers. The winners also make many television appearances, which often result in additional money.
Only a few days after winning the 2016 hot dog eating contest, Chestnut was training for the Hooters Worldwide Wing Eating Competition. He trained by eating two hundred wings in about ten minutes and drinking a gallon of water (or sometimes milk) in about one minute. In the days before a competition, Chestnut does not eat solid food, just protein supplements. He won the Hooters Worldwide Wing Eating Competition in 2016 for which he earned $8,500 for consuming 194 wings in ten minutes. In 2024, Chestnut was banned from the competition for signing a contract with plant-based foods manufacturer Impossible Foods. However, the same year, streaming service Netflix produced a one-time competitive eating event, Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. This hot dog eating competition saw Chestnut face long-time rival and fellow celebrity competitive eater, Takeru Kobayashi. Chestnut took home a victory and set a new world record by eating eighty-three hot dogs.
Hooters' 2016 female winner was 110-pound Miki Sudo, who devoured 116 wings in about twelve minutes. Sudo travels the world participating in (and often winning) eating competitions. Her accomplishments include winning the female segment of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest ten times.
Overview
Competitive eating contests are usually held outdoors. Serious contenders start training four to six weeks prior to an eating competition. While their training methods differ, most agree that increasing stomach capacity before an event is paramount to success. They usually do this by consuming large amounts of water prior to the contest.
Competitors also try to increase their jaw strength. They may chew large amounts of gum or chew on silicone tubes, a method sometimes prescribed by doctors for people recovering from jaw surgery. During events, competitors actually swallow much more than they chew, so jaw strength and the ability to put large amounts of chewed and unchewed food inside the mouth are helpful.
Competitive eaters must have good timing and breathing techniques so they can breathe and eat at the same time. Many watch videos of food-eating competitions. They take notes to help them work on their breathing and timing.
Contestants usually stand during competitions because they think this helps them metabolize food more quickly and settles the food in their stomachs. For obvious reasons, they wear comfortable clothes while competing. Most contestants eat a small amount of food before a competition.
Contestants receive credit for whatever food they have consumed and whatever food they have in their mouth when the whistle blows. All food must be swallowed within thirty seconds of the whistleblowing to stay qualified. Vomiting, called "reversal" or sometimes a "Roman incident" by many competitive eaters, leads to an automatic disqualification from the event.
Some debate exists about the dangers involved in competitive eating. Some physicians believe that contestants might end up suffering from ulcers and diabetes. They also say they may suffer from water intoxication from drinking such large quantities during training. Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes all the electrolytes in a person's blood. Gastroparesis is another risk of competitive eating. If the stomach is repeatedly overstretched, it may contract and lose its ability to empty itself. Despite physicians' concerns, however, the only injury that has been directly associated with a competitive eating competition has been a fractured jaw.
Bibliography
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Treisman, Rachel. “Hot Dog-Eating Champ Joey Chestnut Won't Compete this July 4. What’s the Beef?” NPR, 12 June 2024, www.npr.org/2024/06/12/nx-s1-5003036/joey-chestnut-banned-nathans-hot-dog-eating-competition. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.