25 Craziest Eating Contests From Around The World

Held every June in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Oyster Eating World Championship is a speed eating contest in which participants compete for a cash price (1.000 dollars for the winner). In 2011, Pat Bertoletti set a Louisiana state record by eating 468 oysters in 8 minutes.

The World Garlic Eating Competition is held in Chideock, Dorset County, Southwestern England. In 2014, David Greenman won the contest by chomping 33 raw cloves of Iberian garlic in 60 seconds.

Another crazy eating contest held in Dorset, the World Nettle Eating Championship is a competition in which participants chew their way through nettle leaves. The winner is the contestant who has stripped and eaten the leaves from the greatest number of the 2-feet (60 cm) stalks.

If you like kimchi (Korean national dish), you may consider participating at the International Kimchi Eating Championship Chowdown held in Koreatown, Chicago, Illinois. To break the current record, you will have to eat more than 8.5 pounds (3.86 kg) of this delicacy in 6 minutes.

To join this crazy-sounding contest, you have to set out to Corinth, Mississippi. But don’t worry, you will not be eating slugs. Slugburger is a unique burger based on a deep-fried beef and soy meal patty dressed with onions, pickles and mustard. To break the current world record, you will have to eat at least 44 slugburgers in 10 minutes.

There are several contests in which participants compete in attempt to eat the most super-spicy peppers and the Jalapeño Eating World Championship at the State Fair of Texas is among the most famous ones. In 2006, a 62-year-old retired accountant from Nevada swallowed 247 peppers in 8 minutes, setting the new world record in the process.

Held at the Pattaya Crocodile Farm in Thailand, the crocodile egg eating competition is an annual eating race that consists of eating 10 crocodile eggs in the shortest time possible. The main purpose of this bizarre contest is to promote local tourism.

Even broccoli, the symbol of healthy food, can become the subject of an eating contest. Tom “Broccoli” Landers is the world record holder for broccoli eating, having gulped down a pound of raw broccoli in just 92 seconds.

Mushrooms fans can pit their strengths against each other at the National Fried Mushroom Eating Championship held annually in Pennsylvania. If you can devour more than 9 pounds (4 kg) of breaded and fried mushrooms in 8 minutes, you have a good chance of setting the new world record.

Elvis Presley’s fans gather in Biloxi, Mississippi to commemorate The King by competing in eating his favorite peanut butter and banana sandwiches. In 2011, Pat Bertoletti won the Biloxi PB&B Sandwich Eating World Championship after devouring 28 PB&B sandwiches in 10 minutes.

In April 2008, a professional eater, Tim ‘Eater X’ Janus, set the world sushi eating record by eating an incredible 141 pieces of sushi in 6 minutes.

A part of the Glutton Bowl, a two-hour competitive eating special, the mayonnaise eating competition is arguably the most unhealthful contest on the list. The winner of this discipline, Oleg Zhornitskiy, ate 4 bowls of mayo which is equivalent to 8 pounds (or 3.6 kg) of this condiment.

Edinburgh, Scotland hosts an annual curry eating competition. Before the competition begins, participants are screened for health risks and required to sign a legal disclaimer prior to taking part in the competition as some of them usually end up in need of medical attention. Therefore, the British Red Cross in on standby during this “spicy” event.

The record for eating live cockroaches is held by Ken Edwards of Derbyshire, England.  In 2001 he ate 36 hissing Madagascar roaches in one minute. In 2012, a man died after eating dozens of live roaches in a similar contest in Florida.

To try the craziest and most outrageous eating contest on the list, you have to travel to Beijing, China. In this competition, 3 buckets are provided for each contestant. One is crammed with roasted donkey penises, the second is filled with a dipping sauce and the third is for gagging up chunks of half-digested penises to avoid choking.

Ice cream eating contests are held in many countries but it was at the 2014 World Ice Cream Eating Championship in Florida where the new world record for this discipline was achieved. Joey Chestnut, a holder of several other eating records, gulped down 15 pints (7.1 liter) of ice cream in 6 minutes.

Another eating competition dominated by Joey Chestnut, the Shrimp Wonton Eating Contest is held in Singapore. In May 2010, Chestnut set the world record for this crazy contest by devouring 380 shrimp wontons in 8 minutes.

A part of the Testicle Festival that is held in some small towns in several US states such as Illinois, Montana or Michigan, this contest features speed eating of animal´s (usually bull´s) fried testicles. The competitors are supposed to eat as many testicles as they can in 10 minutes.

Held in Atlantic City, New Jersey The holder of the world record for this discipline Chris Hendrix ate 331 pieces of these crustaceans in 12 minutes.

During the 2010 Isle Casino Pompano Park World Pickle Eating Championship in Pompano Beach, Florida, Pat Bertoletti chowed down 5 pounds of 11.2 ounces (2.6 kg) sour pickles in 6 minutes, setting the world record. A year later, Bertoletti also ate 275 pickled jalapenos in 8 minutes.

Held in the Czech Republic where plum dumplings are a popular dish, the plum dumplings eating contest is an eating competition in which the participants eat as many plum dumplings as they can in one hour. The current Czech record is 191 pieces of this delicious dessert.

In 2004, Brian Duffield from UK managed to scoff a large 212 g (0.47 pound) onion in just 1 minute and 32 seconds.

Held during the Hester Street Fair in the East Village, New York City, the “balut” eating contest is among the least appetizing contests on this list. Competitors have 5 minutes to scarf down as much fertilized duck egg served hard-boiled as they can. The current champion, Wayne Algenio, put down 18 in his first bout and 37 in his second.

Held annually in Stockton, California, the World Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Competition is one of the contests that Joey Chestnut has left a significant mark on. As a many-times winner of this competition, he managed to eat almost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of fried asparagus in 10 minutes in 2011.

As crazy as this may sound, there is a competition in which participants eat entire sticks of butter. In 2001, Don Lerman ate seven quarter-pound (113 g) sticks of salted butter in 5 minutes, setting the world record for this discipline at the Glutton Bowl.