Take a Bite Out of This
You’ve never been hungry like this before! The world is a big place with lots of food, and plenty of hungry people just waiting to demolish scary amounts of it. From nearly fifty sandwiches in ten minutes to an entire pizza in under thirty seconds, here are the craziest competitive food records.
1. 36 Cockroaches in 60 Seconds, 2001
Most people can’t even look at bugs without getting a shiver up their spine, but in 2001, Ken Edwards shocked the world with his record-breaking feast. In just sixty seconds, he downed thirty-six live cockroaches. Unsurprisingly, no one beat the record before his passing in 2022.
2. 57 Cow Brains in 15 Minutes, 2002
Bugs may sound like a strange dining choice, but it’s hardly unheard of nowadays. Cow brains, on the other hand, remain a rare delicacy for most. In 2002, Takeru Kobayashi set the record by chowing down on fifty-seven brains in just fifteen minutes. They don’t call him “Tsunami” for nothing!
3. 7 Burgers (3/4 pound) "Thickburgers" in 10 Minutes, 2003
Oh, you thought men set all the records? Guess again because Sonya Thomas earned several titles of her own, including eating seven ¾ pound burgers in just ten minutes. She holds dozens of records and is even nicknamed “the Black Widow” because of her ability to compete with male eaters.
4. 44 Maine Lobsters in 12 Minutes, 2005
Here we go again! You read that right—Thomas once downed forty-four Maine lobsters in only twelve minutes. To top it all off, she ate all that lobster (which was over eleven pounds of meat) from the shell.
5. 45 Pulled Pork Sandwiches in 10 Minutes, 2007
If you follow competitive eating, you’ve heard of Joey Chestnut. He’s an undisputed champion in many areas and once set a nauseating ‘07 record: forty-five pulled pork sandwiches in ten minutes. To think we can barely finish one.
6. 39 Dozen Acme Oysters in 8 Minutes, 2011
We love a good oyster bar as much as the next guy, but Patrick Bertoletti really got in there. It only took eight minutes for him to crush thirty-nine dozen Acme oysters. That’s nearly 500 individual pieces.
7. 72 Cupcakes in 6 Minutes, 2012
Bertoletti’s no stranger to record-setting. He did it again in 2012 when he downed seventy-two cupcakes in just six minutes. At this point, it’s easy to see how he earned the nickname “Deepdish.”
8. 182 Strips Smithfield Bacon in 5 Minutes, 2015
You might love bacon on a Sunday morning, but no one loves it as much as Matt Stonie. In 2015, he inhaled nearly 200 strips of it in just five minutes. After his triumph, he told Huffington Post that the bacon was cooked exactly how he needed it: “a little crispy because I don’t like having to chew it.”
9. 12-Inch Pizza in 23 Seconds, 2015
We’ve all sunk our teeth into a greasy slice of pizza, but no one’s ever eaten an entire pie this fast. All it took was twenty-three seconds in 2015 for Kelvin Medina to rip through an entire twelve-inch pizza. Not only that, he did it with a knife and fork!
10. 128 Ounces of Mayo in 8 Minutes, 2017
In 2017, Oleg Zhornitskiy made his way through four 32-ounce bowls of mayo—that’s about eight pounds of the stuff. He completed the task in just eight minutes and walked away a champion. Suddenly all that mayo in our sandwiches doesn’t look so bad.
11. 255 Peeps in 5 Minutes, 2017
Stonie wasn’t stopping with bacon. In 2017, he crushed almost three hundred marshmallow peeps in five minutes. If that wasn’t shocking enough, his YouTube page features videos of him eating hundreds of Hot Tamale peeps for Easter. We’ll just stick with a normal amount of chocolate eggs.
12. 281 Hooters Wings in 10 Minutes, 2019
Geoffrey Esper is another well-known titan of competitive eating, and he proved it in 2019 by eating 281 Hooters wings in just ten minutes. Maybe we can let this one slide—their wings are the best thing on the menu.
13. 9.75 Pounds of SPAM in 8 Minutes, 2021
Alright, we’re not as forgiving with this record. Esper struck again with his 2021 record: nearly ten pounds of SPAM from the can in eight minutes. Though, f you’re going to stuff your face with it, it might as well be at the SPAMARAMA at Circuit of the Americas.
14. 28 Pounds of Smoke's Poutinerie Poutine in 10 Minutes, 2021
Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about Joey Chestnut. How could we when he’s the only guy to crush twenty-eight pounds of poutine in ten minutes? Here we thought Canadians loved the dish!
15. 50 Hardboiled Eggs in 3 Minutes, 2021
They say eggs are good for you—loaded with protein and iron, they’re part of a balanced diet. Maybe that’s why Nick Wehry downed fifty of them in three minutes…or maybe it was to impress his girlfriend, fellow competitive eater Miki Sudo, whom he proposed to shortly after the feat.
16. 76 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs in 10 Minutes, 2021
Even those outside the competitive eating space know about Chestnut’s ‘21 record. You read that right: seventy-six hot dogs in ten minutes. You may want to stock up before inviting him to a barbecue!
17. 10 Carolina Reaper Chillies in 33 Seconds, 2022
Some of us love spice, others can’t handle the heat, but Greg Foster wowed everyone with his 2022 record. In just thirty-three seconds, he inhaled ten Carolina Reaper chili peppers, the world’s hottest pepper in the world with 1.5 million Scoville Heat Units. Maybe if you eat them faster, your tongue won’t cry.
18. 116 ft of Nettle Stalks, 2024
Speaking of crying tongues, did you know that some people munch on nettle stalks? No, we’re not kidding. Neither were Tom Wheeler and Beth Hodges, the two winners of the 2024 World Nettle Eating Championships. They crushed 116 and 64 ft. respectively.
19. 350 Jack's Donut Holes in 8 Minutes, 2024
We’ll admit it—we’ve cheated on our diets before with a donut hole or two. However, James Webb makes us feel better with his record of 350 in eight minutes! Not even famous competitive eaters Nick Wehry or Miki Sudo could match the number, though they got close.
20. 220 Wendy’s Chicken Nuggets in 8 Minutes, 2024
Bertoletti’s record would make Wendy’s hair stand up even more. In eight minutes, he managed to polish off 220 nuggets. James Webb, who we just read about, finished only seven nuggets behind.