Stroud News & Journal reports that a 56 year old man died after choking in a pickled egg eating contest held at the Boars Head Inn in Berkeley, England.
Eating / Drinking contest deaths, updated Nov 2014
Previous edition of list (last updated Oct 2012)
1983 North Carolina Marine dies in donut eating contest at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station
1999 Chicago, a 12 year old school girl dies playing “Chubby Bunny” in an unsupervised classroom. The goal of “Chubby Bunny” is to say “Chubby Bunny” after stuffing one’s mouth with as many marshmallows as possible.
2002 Japan, school boy dies in cafeteria after attempting a stunt seen on a televised eating contest.
2004 Canada man dies after choking in chicken wing eating contest held at Regina bar.
2004 Japan, housewife dies in bread eating contest in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture
2006 Canada, woman dies in “Chubby Bunny” contest held at Ontario fair
2007 Sacramento, woman dies of water intoxication after competing in a bladder endurance contest sponsored by a radio station.
2007 India, man (believed to be epileptic) dies from breathing complications in an idli eating contest
2008 Wales, man dies in unplanned post party cupcake contest to use up left over buffet food. Articles about the contest do not make it clear if the contest was a mouth-stuffing contest or a speed eating contest
2008 Taiwan graduate student dies after victory in a steamed bun eating contest
2008 India, engineer at Nokia Siemens of India chokes after making a pastry eating bet at a company party.
2009 Kaliningrad, Russia Boris Isaev chokes in pancake eating contest
2009 Hyderabad, India Bandu Joshi dies after stuffing 6 laddus into his mouth
2010 Phetchchaburi, Thailand 66 year old Hing Laichan dies after choking in noodle eating contest
2010 San Pedro, California 13 year old Noah Akers choked on a hot dog topped with whipped cream at a fundraiser for Haiti
2011 Tokmak, Ukraine 77 year old Ivan Mendel wins dumpling eating contest, then dies
2011 Timonium, Maryland (near death experience) Michael Solano lacks a pulse for four minutes after choking at a crab cake eating contest, then recovers after hospitalization
2012 Deerfield Beach, Florida Eddy Archbold dies after winning an insect eating contest held at a reptile store
2012 Surrey, BC Samaljit Aulakh experiences brain damage after choking in a gulab jamun eating contest. As of July 2013, he remained hospitalized.
2012 Tunisia Dau Fatnassi dies after eating 28 raw eggs to win a bet
2013 India, 13 year old schoolboy Bharat Sharma chokes to death after attempting to swallow two idlis
2013 England Sharon Dixon passes away after choking on boiled eggs at a pub’s eating contest
2013 Australia 64 year old Bruce Holland experiences a fatal heart attack while participating in a tavern’s chilli pie eating contest
2013 Spain JoaquÃn Alcaraz Gracia passes away after winning a beer drinking contest
2013 Romania unnamed 60 year old chokes to death in a sausage eating contest.
2014 England Gary Mark Sims choked after attempting to swallow three eggs at a time at a pub in Berkeley, England
2014 Custer, SD Walter Eagle Tail chokes to death in a July 3 hot dog eating contest
2014 Nellukuthupara, India Kandamuthan chokes in an idli eating contest
2014 Staryl, Ukraine Lyana Koroleva experiences a heart attack while waiting to receive a prize for winning a vareniki (dumpling) eating contest
According to FlorinBin, an uncaptioned youtube video (uploaded October 6) documents the death of a competitor at a sausage eating contest in Romania. update Oct 15 The Huffington Post has picked up the story update Oct 16 Romanian article from October 7 (translated by Google)
Alpha History has an article from 1906 about a limburger cheese eating contest in Johnsburg, IL resulting in the death of Frank Miller. Two other competitors were critically ill for several weeks but survived.
The Mirror has a list of 10 dishes that can kill or hospitalize claiming that Edward Archbold died in a cockroach eating contest in Wuhan, China two months ago. (The competition took place in Deerfield Beach, FL in October 2012.) The BBC and Guardian have more on the injury mentioned in the list that Nicola Peate experienced eating a triple burger in Liverpool .
A heart attack has been listed as the official cause of death for Bruce Holland after he passed away while competing in an eating contest in Townsville, Australia last month.
Coroner Paul Kelly says he will write to the North East Lincolnshire Council to warn licensing officers about the dangers of pub eating contests after Sharon Dixon died after an egg eating contest at the Wellington Arms pub in Grimsby, England in April.
TheLocal.es reports that JoaquÃn Alcaraz Garcia passed away after drinking 6 liters of beer in 20 minutes to win a contest held Wednesday in the Murcia region of Spain.
The Australian reports that Bruce Holland, a 64 year old resident of Beach Holm, died after participating in a pie eating contest held during half time of a rugby game at Bushland Beach Tavern in Townsville, QLD, Australia.
The Grimsby Telegram reports that Sharon Turner passed away after choking in an egg eating contest held at the Wellington Arms in Grimsby, England held on Easter Monday.
One year anniversary of Scott Bickel’s passing / 2012 losses
It has now been over one year since Scott Bickel took his own life on January 11, 2012 by jumping of the State Route 82 Bridge in Sagamore Hills in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. (Bickel’s death was not the only appearance of the bridge in 2012 news; members of “Occupy Cleveland” were arrested in May for attempting to blow it up.) Other 2012 losses in the competitive eating community include:
- Edward Archbold choked to death in October after winning a bug eating contest in Deerfield Beach, FL
- Frank Pastore, Big Texan 72 ounce steak record holder 1987-2008. Passed away in December after a coma following a motorcycle crash in November.
- Dau Fatnassi, Tunisian passed away in December after eating 28 eggs in a 30 egg eating challenge
Samit Aulakh fell into a coma after choking in a Gulab Jamun eating contest in Surrey, BC in November (as far as I know, he is still in that condition.)
The Telegraph of Calcutta has an article about 13 year old schoolboy Bharat Sharma choking to death on idlis. He reportedly stuffed his mouth with three of the savory cakes after being bullied about sharing his lunch. (Times of India article)
Eating / Drinking contest deaths, updated Oct 2012
Previous edition of list (last updated Dec 2009)
1983 North Carolina Marine dies in donut eating contest at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station
1999 Chicago, a 12 year old school girl dies playing “Chubby Bunny” in an unsupervised classroom. The goal of “Chubby Bunny” is to say “Chubby Bunny” after stuffing one’s mouth with as many marshmallows as possible.
2002 Japan, school boy dies in cafeteria after attempting a stunt seen on a televised eating contest.
2004 Canada man dies after choking in chicken wing eating contest held at Regina bar.
2004 Japan, housewife dies in bread eating contest in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture
2006 Canada, woman dies in “Chubby Bunny” contest held at Ontario fair
2007 Sacramento, woman dies of water intoxication after competing in a bladder endurance contest sponsored by a radio station.
2007 India, man (believed to be epileptic) dies from breathing complications in an idli eating contest
2008 Wales, man dies in unplanned post party cupcake contest to use up left over buffet food. Articles about the contest do not make it clear if the contest was a mouth-stuffing contest or a speed eating contest
2008 Taiwan graduate student dies after victory in a steamed bun eating contest
2008 India, engineer at Nokia Siemens of India chokes after making a pastry eating bet at a company party.
2009 Kaliningrad, Russia Boris Isaev chokes in pancake eating contest
2009 Hyderabad, India Bandu Joshi dies after stuffing 6 laddus into his mouth
2010 Phetchchaburi, Thailand 66 year old Hing Laichan dies after choking in noodle eating contest
2010 San Pedro, California 13 year old Noah Akers choked on a hot dog topped with whipped cream at a fundraiser for Haiti
2011 Tokmak, Ukraine 77 year old Ivan Mendel wins dumpling eating contest, then dies
2011 Timonium, Maryland (near death experience) Michael Solano lacks a pulse for four minutes after choking at a crab cake eating contest, then recovers after hospitalization
2012 Deerfield Beach, Florida Eddy Archbold dies after winning an insect eating contest held at a reptile store
Eddy Archbold dies after winning bug eating contest in Deerfield Beach, FL
update Oct 9 The reptile store has posted a statement from its attorney on its facebook page
Urban Jungles Radio was present at the contest and recorded a podcast
Palm Beach Post article | interview with Eddy Archbold’s girlfriend
Miami Herald article
Local10 article and news video
CBSMiami news video
update Oct 8 The AP has an article which has been picked up by numerous outlets.
BuzzFeed has a thread
“The governing body of all stomach centric sports” may not be the optimal motto because it implicitly makes incidents like this IFOCE/MLE’s responsibility.
Six Flags amusement parks are holding a series of cockroach eating contests awarding a season pass (these might be cancelled due to the death) Texas | Maryland | Chicago
Topix.com has a thread about the death of Eddy Archbold after winning a roach eating contest held at Ben Siegel’s Reptiles in Deerfield Beach, FL Friday night. A post on the store’s facebook page says it currently lacks any details about the incident. (announcement for the contest) update The store’s UStream channel has a video of the contest (starts around 2 hour mark) in which there are no obvious signs of distress. Another video has been uploaded to youtube, but is now private. Pretty Ninjaa’s twitter feed has tweets about the incident.
News24.com reports that a 77 year old man died after winning a dumpling eating contest held in The Ukraine. The Gazet van Antwerpen uses a picture of Kobayashi at Nathan's to illustrate it article about the death. update Sept 21 The Guardian has more about the death.
The Daily Breeze reports that 13 year old Noah Akers died choking on a hot dog topped with whipped cream at a fundraiser for Haiti at the Boys and Girls Club of San Pedro, California. The event was not an eating competition; all finishers of one hot dog would receive candy regardless of their time.
The Nation reports that Hing Laichan, a 66 year old motorcycle taxi driver, died in a pad thai noodle eating contest in the Phetchaburi province of Thailand.
The Press Trust of India reports that diabetic Bandu Joshi died after stuffing his mouth with seven laddus at a contest in Hyderabad, India.
Russian dies after victory in pancake contest
(from Ken Wong) RussiaToday has sad news from a pancake eating contest:
At a celebration of Maslenitsa or Pancake week ‘the fastest pancake eater contest’ ended in tragedy in the Kaliningrad Region, when the winner of the competition died as he prepared to accept his award.
Boris Isaev, 46, a resident of the city of Chernyakhovsk, climbed onstage to take the prize, but suddenly fell to his knees choking. Foam came out of his mouth and a few moments after he fell breathless.
RIAN.ru also has an article
This is the fifth death in an Eastern hemisphere eating contest since the start of 2008.
Indian engineer dies in eating contest
More sad news from Asia. The Times of India reports that Saurav Sabbarwal, a solutions engineer with Nokia Siemens Networking, died after choking in a pastry eating contest held at an office cafeteria in Guragon, India. It is not clear if the contest was pre-planned or an informal competition.
Nokia produced a commercial featuring a competitive eating fan who uses her phone to get contest updates.
update The contest was apparently a company activity and there was no medical supervision present. Mr. Sabbarwal’s family is considering suing Nokia Siemens.
Links: NewKerala, ThaIndian, PTINews
Updated list of eating / drinking contest deaths
updated Dec 12, 2009
1983 North Carolina Marine dies in donut eating contest at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station
1999 Chicago, a 12 year old school girl dies playing “Chubby Bunny” in an unsupervised classroom. The goal of “Chubby Bunny” is to say “Chubby Bunny” after stuffing one’s mouth with as many marshmallows as possible.
2002 Japan, school boy dies in cafeteria after attempting a stunt seen on a televised eating contest.
2004 Canada man dies after choking in chicken wing eating contest held at Regina bar.
2004 Japan, housewife dies in bread eating contest in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture
2006 Canada, woman dies in “Chubby Bunny” contest held at Ontario fair
2007 Sacramento, woman dies of water intoxication after competing in a bladder endurance contest sponsored by a radio station.
2007 India, man (believed to be epileptic) dies from breathing complications in an idli eating contest
2008 Wales, man dies in unplanned post party cupcake contest to use up left over buffet food. Articles about the contest do not make it clear if the contest was a mouth-stuffing contest or a speed eating contest
2008 Taiwan graduate student dies after victory in a steamed bun eating contest
2008 India, engineer at Nokia Siemens of India chokes after making a pastry eating bet at a company party.
2009 Kaliningrad, Russia Boris Isaev chokes in pancake eating contest
2009 Hyderabad, India Bandu Joshi dies after stuffing 6 laddus into his mouth
Of the above 13 deaths, 7 (Russia, India 2007 & 2009, Japan, Regina, Taiwan, North Carolina) occurred in scheduled conventional eating contests. It is not mentioned what medical personnel was on site at those events.
Taiwanese student dies in steamed bun contest
The Taipei Times has sad news about a steamed bun eating contest:
An eating contest at a local university ended in tragedy on Wednesday when a graduate student died after participating in a steamed bun eating competition.
Huang Te-hsiang (黃德祥), dean of the student affairs office of Dayeh University in Changhua, said yesterday that a 23-year-old student, surnamed Chen, from the Graduate Institute of Bioindustry Technology could not stop vomiting and fell unconscious after he began to feel uncomfortable during the school’s eating competition on Wednesday.
update ETaiwanNews has more information. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Eating / Drinking contest deaths
Here is a list of all the deaths in eating/drinking contests I am aware of:
1999 Chicago, a 12 year old school girl dies playing “Chubby Bunny” in an unsupervised classroom. The goal of “Chubby Bunny” is to say “Chubby Bunny” after stuffing one’s mouth with as many marshmallows as possible.
2002 Japan, school boy dies in cafeteria after attempting a stunt seen on a televised eating contest.
2004 Canada man dies after choking in chicken wing eating contest held at Regina bar.
2004 Japan, housewife dies in bread eating contest in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture
2006 Canada, woman dies in “Chubby Bunny” contest held at Ontario fair
2007 Sacramento, woman dies of water intoxication after competing in a bladder endurance contest sponsored by a radio station.
2007 India, man (believed to be epileptic) dies from breathing complications in an idli eating contest
2008 Wales, man dies in unplanned post party cupcake contest to use up left over buffet food. Articles about the contest do not make it clear if the contest was a mouth-stuffing contest or a speed eating contest
Of the above 7 deaths, 3 (India, Japan, Regina) occurred in scheduled conventional eating contests. It is not mentioned what medical personnel was on site at those events.
Man dies in unplanned Welsh cake contest
The Daily Mail reports that Adam Deely died after getting five fairy cakes lodged in his throat in a cake eating contest at the at the Monkey Cafe in Swansea, South Wales. The competition was not medically supervised or even planned; it was held after a party concluded and guests decided to clean out uneaten food left over from a buffet spread.
Death in Indian eating contest
newindpress.com reports that Sridhar, son of Shanmugham, a 29 year old from a village near Sathyamangalam in Erode district died from breathing complications after eating 20 rice cakes in an idli eating competition. Sridhar is believe to be an epilepsy patient.
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