10 Food-Devouring Competitions

Eating contests are among the more peculiar kinds of competition out there. While they may sound like the kind of wacky event best restricted to children's parties, university frosh week events and charitable endeavors, you may be surprised to learn that competitive eating is a professional 'sport', with its top players making enviable sums of money.

The proliferation of eating contests has come to represent an interesting opportunity for food manufacturers and purveyors. There are a growing number of competitive eating events sponsored by food chains. What better way to put your name out there than by getting a line-up of people stuffing extraordinary amounts of your product down their throats?

Eating contests are also often held as part of larger events promoting a specific kind of food. While the health implications of these competitions may be disturbing, you only live once so why not shove several pounds of food down your throat in search of eternal glory?