"IFOCE" news and stories

The Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser is so big that it looks like it might eat Brad Sciullo. Nonetheless the 21-year-old chef from Uniontown, Pa., took down the 15-pound burger along with 5 pounds of toppings in four hours and 39 minutes. For his efforts the 5-foot-11, 180-pound received $400, three T-shirts, a certificate and what the owner of Denny's Beer Barrel Pub calls "a burger hangover."

Sciullo is the first person to ever successfully eat this outlandishly huge burger within the 5-hour time limit. The colossal cheeseburger was dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish. Four hours and 39 minutes is a glacial pace compared with the people on the International Federation of Competitive Eaters circuit. The IFOCE is all about speed.

I'm guessing that Sciullo might spend a good 4 hours in the bathroom after eating that much ground beef. At least the chef doesn't have to face any burgers when he returns to work. He works at an Italian restaurant called Pasta Lorenzo's in Uniontown.

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I haven't posted anything about competitive eating in a while, but, for a number of reasons, this is too good to pass up. A recent post to the International Federation of Competitive Eating website mentioned next weekend's World Posole Eating Championship at the Sky City Casino in Acoma, New Mexico. I'm a big posole fan, but I never knew it was something that was eaten competitively. If you've visited the IFOCE site in the past, you might be familiar with competitive eater Rich "The Locust" LeFevre. Rich will be competing next weekend, but it turns out that his wife Carlene (right) was the star of the competition two years ago, when she became the "world posole champ" by eating almost 110 ounces of of the spicy pork and hominy soup in 12 minutes. Her husband finished with about 10 ounces less than that. Carlene won't be competing this time around, but her husband Rich will, along with competitive eater Pat Bertoletti.

A new competitive eating world record was set over the weekend when eater Joey Chestnut out-ate the competition by eating 49 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes. Sonya Thomas and Pat Bertoletti tied for second place with 37 sandwiches each. All three passed the former record of 36.5 sandwiches.

There is a video available here of the event, which was held at the Arena Football Fan Fest in Las Vegas. It is a fascinating sight - if mildly disgusting - for anyone who has never witnessed a professional eating competition. The crown cheers on the eaters while they battle the sandwiches, which an announcer describes as being glue-like. Sonya, who weighs 105 pounds, really has her technique down to a science and Chestnut, in a post match interview, describes how much concentration is needed to compete, given that your body doesn't really want to eat all that grilled cheese.

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With key lime pie well on its way to becoming the official baked good of the state of Florida, I think it's worth noting the results of the recent key lime pie eating contest at the Spinnaker Beach Club in Panama City, FL. Patrick Bertoletti (right), a young upstart on the competitive eating circuit, took home $1,500 by eating 10.8 pounds of key lime pie in eight minutes, according to the IFOCE. Runner-up Tim Janus took down 10.2 pounds of pie in the same amount of time. The event was part of the GoldenPalace.net World Series of Competitive Eating. Interestingly enough, Golden Palace's eating competitions are listed in the site's 'sports' category.

Maybe it’s because I just happened to catch the 50 eggs scene from Cool Hand Luke on TV last night, but I figured I’d post a link to the IFOCE or International Federation Of Competitive Eating. Upon first visiting their site, I was drawn immediately to the records section. Interested in finding out how to become an IFOCE member or learning about their safety standards? That’s fine. Me? I just want to know the record for competitive mayonnaise eating. Oleg Zhornitskiy apparently ate four 32-ounce bowls (yes, bowls) of mayo in eight minutes. Oysters? Sonya Thomas, competitive eating’s “black widow” took down 46 dozen in 10 minutes. Ms. Thomas is credited with several other eating records, including taking down a nearly eight-pound turducken dinner in 12 minutes. It’s good to have a hobby.