Guest Author - Jennifer L. Thompson

Eating competitions have been around for as long as most of us can even remember. Over the years, they have been growing in popularity, with cash prizes and coveted awards recruiting more and more contestants. At its base level, you might see one of your friends eating blueberry pie at the local fair to win a cash prize or some other award. At its highest level, worldwide contestants go through training and health management programs in order to compete in multiple competitions and still maintain good health. Regardless of what level it is at, the idea is to see who can eat the most of a specified cuisine in a particular amount of time, in order to win a prize. These contests are most popular in the U.S., however, continue to gain contestants from a world-wide market.

There has also been a new contest sparked from this phenomena, looking for "Bunnettes" (spokesmodels of sorts), to represent a fast-growing segment of the population. You can find the link to more information on the Bunnette contest at the bottom of this article.

One of the most famous eating competitions is "Nathan's Famous July Fourth International Hot dog Eating Contest", which is claimed to have been held every Fourth of July, at the original restaurant in Coney Island, since 1916. This contest has qualifying events held throughout the U.S. and in Tokyo, Japan, to win seats in the final event. The contest last year had 30,000 people in the audience, with additional viewers tuning in to its broadcast on ESPN. The winning competitor ate an astounding 53.75 hot dogs in the twelve-minute competition.

Some of the rules for eating competitions are rather unique, as far as contests go, and give us an idea of the potential pitfalls to this type of event. Things such as "The Two-Minute no-return Rule", as stated in the official rules of the "Clara’s National Pierogie Eating Championship" held in Philedelphia each year, simply require that once food has gone down, it must stay down for at least two minutes after the five minute competition has ended.

Prizes offered in eating contests can range from gift certificates redeemable at sponsoring restaurants to thousands of dollars in cash (such as the $4,000 cash offered as a grand prize in the annual "Berryhill Baja Grill World Tamale Eating Championship")

If you feel you might qualify to be a "Bunnette" representing the sport of competetive eating, follow this Link

The winner will be offered a spot as an official Major League Eating Bunnette and a chance to appear on TV in a MLE championship contest, along with what they call a "dream weekend for two in Las Vegas".