"eating contest" news and stories

"There's nothing like putting yourself through a lot of pain for no reason."

Truer words were never spoken - especially not if you're an amateur about to enter a Jalapeño-eating contest sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive eating, pitting yourself against professional gurgitators. The contest was held on Sunday at the State Fair of Texas and included 6 amateurs against pros Rich LeFevre, Sonya Thomas, Pat Bertoletti and Erik Denmark. Jalapeños are a particularly difficult food to eat because, although they are small, they can be quite painful. Some eaters reported a loss of feeling in their faces and a general dizziness, in addition to sickness, after the competition was over. The pros used some tricks that they picked up on the circuit, including drinking Pepto Bismol before the competition and using milk, rather than water, to dull the burn of the peppers' oils. Unsurprisingly, the well-prepared pros came out on top:

• First place: Rich "The Locust" LeFevre, 247 jalapeños
• Second: Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, 239
• Third: Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, 226

For comparison, the amateurs seemed to average around 50 or so.

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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.