New Indian Express reports that a 52 year old man named Kandamuthan passed away after choking in an idli eating contest held in Nellukuthupara, India.

September 8, 2014 at 10:35 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Fatalities, India | Permalink * Comments (19)

19 Comments »

  1. anon said

    September 9, 2014 @ 3:34 pm

    This scares me. I am training to become a competitive eater, and I have gotten food stuck in my esophagus twice. Fortunately, I was able to cough it up both times to my mouth, where I chewed it more.

    Were paramedics on standby during the contest?

    Waiting for the ambulance and then rushing to the hospital, as the article stated, will take too much time. The Heimlich maneuver needs to be performed in the first few minutes.

  2. anon said

    September 9, 2014 @ 4:23 pm

    I want to ask questions about water usage, but I am scared to give away tips I may have learned publicly, if any..

  3. anonymous said

    September 9, 2014 @ 10:59 pm

    Water is the cheapest form of training for cheapskates. Go out and buy the food used for contest which is right way

  4. capn brian said (Registered November 17, 2010)

    September 10, 2014 @ 8:52 am

    article says “The rules of the competitions stated that the person eating the maximum number of idlis in a fixed time without drinking water would be getting the prize.”

    contests that don’t allow beverages are absolutely stupid. i did a wing contest once that didn’t allow beverages and came close to choking twice. not worth the risk, just asking for trouble.

  5. Anonymous said

    September 10, 2014 @ 11:13 am

    @anon, DON’T train to become a competitive eater. This is not a safe job. One day someone in this country will die practicing at home. It’s inevitable.

  6. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 10, 2014 @ 2:49 pm

    I totally agree. Training at home without an EMT on hand is Russian Roulette—-bound to end in tragedy sooner or later.

    Unfortunately, that’s what it will take—-death of a mid- to high-profile (or a known up-and-coming) competitive eater—-to attend to it as a serious issue. Until that happens, the “don’t try this at home” mantra is mere lip service.

  7. anon said

    September 10, 2014 @ 3:08 pm

    Pro eaters train at home all the time. How are amateurs supposed to learn?

    I have found that water is your ENEMY. I might be wrong, but I feel it should not be drunk while eating. It only slows you down. Any time advantage you gain by it making swallowing easier is lost on the time it takes to drink it instead of more eating. Plus, I am not sure about this, but it takes more room to accommodate it in the throat as it surrounds the food during swallowing.

    I think condiments, however, are helpful in swallowing. For example, you should put mustard and ketchup on all hot dogs before any contest.

  8. Jam.Josh said (Registered April 11, 2013)

    September 10, 2014 @ 3:28 pm

    @anon I’m not entirely convinced that water training is that effective or translates very well to helping you increase your capacity of solid food. It can be dangerous and it’s not in your stomach that long meaning it doesn’t stretch your stomach for a long duration either. I think using actual food is the best and most effective option even though it can be expensive and requires more work. Also, depending on if your a purger it may require you to spend more time focusing on your normal diet and exercising. There’s no quick solution or method to improving in competitive eating. Like everything it requires a consistent and dedicated effort and time.

  9. anon said

    September 10, 2014 @ 4:42 pm

    Thanks Jam.Josh. I am a little discouraged, but your post helped! Persevere! (I think my capacity is ok, for now, but I need to work on my speed big time.)

  10. Anonymous said

    September 10, 2014 @ 9:36 pm

    “Training at home without an EMT on hand is Russian Roulette—-bound to end in tragedy sooner or later.”

    All eaters have been doing it for years. Given that it hasn’t happened over the first 100,000 times someone trained at home, it is nothing like putting a bullet in a gun with six chambers. There is also no reason whatsoever why it is absolutely certain to happen in the next 100,000 times someone trains at home

  11. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 11, 2014 @ 8:39 am

    Per 9:36, ” … it is nothing like putting a bullet in a gun with six chambers. …”

    The proverbial gun has tens of thousands chambers, which makes the chances of the unthinkable happening to any given person very remote.

    Nevertheless, it is my opinion that practicing speed-eating without respecting safety breeds increased complacency and apathy … until the ten thousand plus-chambered gun finally fires.

    Perhaps one might ponder putting as much time, effort, and passion into practicing less-risky, more constructive and rewarding ventures, especially since the only real professionals out there who can make a living (for a limited time, anyway) exclusively from CE is Jaws, probably Kobi, and possibly Molly.

    I’m not saying that I’m not down with competitive eating. On the contrary, I find it fascinating. But I would not enjoy it knowing that some of the competitors were consistently putting their lives on the line for a little bit of attention.

  12. anonymous said

    September 11, 2014 @ 8:54 am

    Some have no friends no social life or have miserable family lives and need to do this as an outlet

  13. Jam.Josh said (Registered April 11, 2013)

    September 11, 2014 @ 9:03 am

    All things people do have an inherent risk vs. reward to consider but that shouldnt discourage anyone from pursuing something if they really enjoy it. Not all rewards are monetary. I agree everyone involved with CE should exercise a basic level of precaution and safety but I don’t buy that it’s as hazardous as some people portray it to be but accidents do happen so at the very least everyone should have someone “spotting” them when practicing. I thinks it’s a bit of a hyperbole to say we are putting our lives on the line everytime. Some foods pose more of a choking threat than others but in the end it’s just eating faster than normal. How many deaths have really ever occurred when compared to the total number of people who have ever competed in any eating competition that was ever held? I am assuming it’s a very low %.

  14. anonymous said

    September 11, 2014 @ 10:20 am

    Joey Chestnut got into this because he found some kind of scheme to make this work for him and in turn cash in on some big bucks. When he first came on the scene he called the guys that were big names in the sport asking for advice on how they train etc . Seems that someone gave him the right info

  15. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    September 11, 2014 @ 12:05 pm

    I doubt Jaws needed too much advice. A month into it and he probably was well-versed in the “secrets” of CE to meter out his own advice to help the “masters” of the day improve their own games.

  16. anon said

    September 11, 2014 @ 1:42 pm

    anonymous 8:54 you stated that “Some have no friends no social life or have miserable family lives and need to do this as an outlet”.

    I agree whole-heartedly. Others may be depressed and this might make them happy. Some have limited income, little prospects, perhaps enjoy food, and want to make an extra buck here and there.

  17. anonymous said

    September 11, 2014 @ 6:27 pm

    I also believe that majority of comp eaters had friends outside of the sport before they got involved in the sport but lost those friends as time went by and they were replaced by competitive eaters

  18. anonymous said

    September 17, 2014 @ 3:57 pm

    I can’t find the thread where I said I started water training, so I am posting here. I drank 6-7 quarts of water and Gatorade today in 30 minutes, but I have had to pee about every 15 minutes for the last three hours. This is getting annoying as I am at my desk in public, and the restroom is far away. I can’t get anything done. What is the solution to this? Can I be catheterized and make the bag like two gallons so I can pee while I am sitting at my desk at my computer? This is a serious question.

  19. anonymous said

    September 17, 2014 @ 4:00 pm

    And how am I supposed to water train while I am on the road, driving if I have to pee every 15 minutes? Maybe I should drink enormous quantities of water before I go to bed? But I can’t drink as much then as I have just eaten dinner.

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