competitive eating

The International Federation of Competitive Eating serves as the official governing body of the sport of eating. The IFOCE supervises eating contests on an international level, keeping scrupulous records of the results of these events in order to provide world rankings of international eaters. Currently, the top ten eaters in the world are:

1. Takeru Kobayashi
2. Kazutoyo Arai
3. Oleg Zhornitzkiy
4. Eric Booker
5. Charles Hardy
6. Hirofumi Nakajima
7. Edward Jarvis
8. Dominic Cardo
9. Jed Donahue
10. Takako Akasaka

Currently, the highest-ranked female eater in the world is #52, Donna Villec. The IFOCE has members and affiliates in England, Canada, Ireland, Thailand, the Ukraine, as well as the USA and Japan, where the sport is most popular. In order to ensure their eating contests are as safe as possible for the participants, anyone under the age of 19 is forbidden to compete in any IFOCE-sanctioned event. Also, the only training regimen endorsed by the IFOCE is the recently developed "Water Method", which involves drinking large quantities of water, beginning a few days before a scheduled event. Future goals of the organisation include the establishment of a World Eating Championship, as well as a separate category for competitive drinking.

• Beef Tongue:
  1 pound 3 ounces pickled beef tongue in 12 minutes, on February 21 2002, by Dominic Cardo.
• Butter:
  7 quarter-pound sticks of salted butter in 5 minutes, on February 21 2002, by Don Lerman.
• Burritos:
  15 BurritoVille burritos in 8 minutes, on March 16 2002, by Eric Booker.
• Chicken Wings:
  137 chicken wings in 30 minutes, January 26 2001, by Bill "El Wingador" Simmons.
• Cow Brains:
  57 (17.7 pounds) in 15 minutes, on February 21 2002, by Takeru Kobayashi.
• Eggs:
  38 Hard Boiled Eggs in 10 minutes, on February 21 2002, by Eric Booker.
• Hot Dogs:
  50 Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and Buns in 12 minutes, July 4 2001, by Takeru Kobayashi.
• Hamburgers:
  11 ¼ quarter-pound Willys Garage Cloud Burgers in 10 minutes, November 10th 2001, by Don Lerman.
• Ice Cream:
  1 gallon, 9 ounces of Max & Mina's vanilla ice cream in 12 minutes, October 26 2001, by Edward "Cookie" Jarvis.
• Jalapenos:
  152 jalapenos in 15 minutes, on February 21 2001, by Jed Donahue.
• Jello:
  7 16-ounce portions, July 1999, by Steve Lakind.
• Matzo Balls:
  16 ¼ Ben's Kosher matzo balls in 5 minutes and 25 seconds, on January 29 2002 by Oleg Zhornitskiy.
• Mayonnaise:
  4 32-ounce bowls mayonnaise in 8 minutes, on February 21 2002, by Oleg Zhornitskiy.
• Oysters:
  14 Dozen Acme Oysters in 10 Minutes, April 12 2002, by Crazy Legs Conti.
• Pommes Frite:
  2 pounds 9 ounces of Pommes Frite in 8 minutes, on November 30 2001.