Total hot dogs eaten and lifespan truncation
Happy National Hot Dog Day. In 2021, University of Michigan of researchers posted a study claiming that eating a hot dog would shorten the lifespan of its consumer by 36 minutes. Using that figure, the following table list the amount of lifespan truncation for competitive eaters from the combined totals of hot dog events in the eatfeats database. The statistics inclunde MLE contests, non-MLE competitions and exhibitions. The first column is the number of hot dog events for a given competitor.
| # | Hot Dogs | Avg. | Minutes | Days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1870 | 60.32 | 67320 | 46.75 | Joey “Jaws” Chestnut |
| 27 | 1085.33 | 40.2 | 39071.88 | 27.13 | Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti |
| 45 | 1057.75 | 23.51 | 38079 | 26.44 | Eric “Badlands” Booker |
| 59 | 988.83 | 16.76 | 35597.88 | 24.72 | Crazy Legs Conti |
| 25 | 976.25 | 39.05 | 35145 | 24.41 | Tim “Eater X” Janus |
| 32 | 941.75 | 29.43 | 33903 | 23.54 | Bob “The Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt |
| 34 | 921.25 | 27.1 | 33165 | 23.03 | Erik “The Red” Denmark |
| 15 | 876.25 | 58.42 | 31545 | 21.91 | Takeru Kobayashi |
| 33 | 876 | 26.55 | 31536 | 21.9 | Rich “The Locust” LeFevre |
| 26 | 869.5 | 33.44 | 31302 | 21.74 | Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas |
| 20 | 864.12 | 43.21 | 31108.5 | 21.6 | Geoffrey Esper |
| 26 | 863.12 | 33.2 | 31072.5 | 21.58 | Molly Schuyler |
The Nairobi Times reports that Boniface Ondimu passed away after choking in a bread eating competition held in Nairobi, Kenya. This is the second competitive eating fatality in 48 hours after a tragedy in Jamaica took place this past weekend. The last time this happened was in early April 2017 when Caitlin Nelson and Travis Maloof passed away after choking at events in New Jersey and Denver.
Irie FM reports that 37 year old Kerron Powell passed away after choking in a bun eating contest held in Jamaica yesterday.
Reddit has a thread with over 100 comments about the health hissues Takeru Kobayashi's discussed in the Netflix documentary: "Hack Your Health - The Secrets of Your Gut".
A competitive eater who just ate 36 hot dogs was a patient on last night's episode of HBO's hospital drama, The Pitt. Men's Health had a doctor analyse the segment. (Video clip).
Carlos Cerasomma passed away after choking while competing in a hands-free watermelon eating contest held at a resort in Sao Pedro, Brazil. None of the resort's staff offered assistance and a guest attempted CPR without success. (Portuguese article)
People Magazine reports that Dmitry Nuyanzin, a Russian fitness coach, passed away in his sleep from cardiac arrest after eating 10,000 calories a day for several weeks. Nuyanzin was attempting to gain more than 50 pounds, after which he would demonstrate his fitness plan to lose the weight.
Ekathimerini.com reports that a 22 year old resident of Athens, Greece passed away after choking while attempting to stuff an entire burger in his mouth on November 12.
In his latest video, Joel Hansen announced that the right side of his face has become paralyzed due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome, the same condition which affected Justin Bieber. He hopes to have a full recovery and will be taking a hiatus from new food challenge content in the meantime. Get well soon Joel.
Crossing Broad reports that a competitor choked and was hospitalized during Saturday's hot dog eating contest at Ducktown in Atlantic City held in conjunction with a Micro Wrestling card. EMT were fortunately able to prevent a fatality. (Reddit thread about the incident)
Reuters reports that the government of China has called on citizens to "rationally resist bad content" of extreme eating shows due to food waste and unhealthy behavior.
Vice Sports produced an Instagram video titled "The Dark Side of Competitive Eating" containing the Tim "Eater X" Janus quote: "Throwing up after the contest is a necessary part of the sport"
On the Critical Banter podcast, Winna Bhun from Australia discusses how competitors intentionally vomiting resulted in his retirement from competitive eating.
The Pinnacle Gazette has a post about 34 year old Japanese female competitive eater Ogose Aya, who weighs only 28.8 kg (63.4 pounds) and is 150 cm (5 feet) tall. The weight of Aya and Angela Sato were monitored on a recent TBS program titled "Why So Thin? Exploring the Mystery of Competitive Eater Weight Changes".
The New York Post has an article about Turkish mukbang streamer Efecan Kultur, who passed away on March 7 after being hospitalized for three months for obesity issues. (Turkiye Today article)
The Sun, The Daily Mail, Unilad and Economic Times all have basically the same article about the hospitalization of a Singaporean man from digestive issues following an attempt to eat a 7 pound burger. The case was originally described in a 2018 issue of the journal Gastroenterology.
The Daily Star has an article titled "Dark and twisted history of Mukbang eating influencers after deaths and controversies"
Chosun.com on decline of mukbang
Chosun.com has an article about the decline of mukbang and big eating challenges that opens with the recent retirement announcement of Yuka Kinoshita.
One major reason for mukbang’s decline is the controversy over allegations that mukbang YouTubers secretly spit out or discard food instead of actually eating it. As suspicions arose, some viewers condemned the practice as deceptive, fueling negative public sentiment, especially over food waste. Moreover, while early mukbang content felt fresh, its appeal has faded as countless creators continue to recycle the same formats.
Madison.com on Lake Mills, WI choking incident
Madison.com has an article about the choking incident at a Lake Mills, WI hot dog eating contest on February 2. The victim, Tim Vogel, was intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of .32. (Turn off JavaScript to bypass paywall)
Vogel’s ribs, some of which had cracked under the weight of compressions, held lungs filled with fluid, and an oxygen machine was doing at least 60% of his breathing for him, Dorn said. He was coughing up blood.
“I didn’t even know for probably about 15 hours if he was going to make it,” Dorn said.
Once he was conscious and showing signs of improvement, doctors placed Vogel on a temporary liquid diet due to the trauma in his throat; he jokingly lamented that he hadn’t been able to finish his hot dogs.
Newsbreak reports a competitor in a hot dog eating contest at the Knickerbocker Ice Festival in Lake Mills, WI choked and was rendered unconscious on February 1. EMS was able to clear the blockage and he regained consciousness en route to the hospital.
In his latest video, Joel Hansen answers questions from fans. He discusses an abdominal tear and other health issues that have recently curtailed his food challenges.
Arab News reports that Joe Skaff, a 12 year old Lebanese schoolboy, passed away after choking while attempting to eat a croissant role in one bite.
The latest episode of the It Takes All Types podcast is titled "Dumb Ways to Die: Competitive Eating"
Josh Brett produced a mini-documentary titled "Why Competitive Eaters Don't Get Fat" containing interviews with Joey Chestnut, Matt Stonie, Adam Moran, Leah Shutkever, Katina DeJarnett, Nela Zisser and others. The brief segment about intentional vomiting appears at the end (around 10:20) and consists of clips of eaters denying that they reverse.
On the Rodiculous podcast, cooking influencer Rosanna Pansino discussed her experience with Matt Stonie while they recorded an episode of "Youtube Creators". The discussion about Matt starts around minute 39. At 42:00, Rosanna says that Matt told her that he wants to move away from competitive eating since it is taking a toll on his health.
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