Image source, Getty Images
- author, Max Matza
- role, BBC News
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Competitive eating star Joey “Jaws” Chestnut has been told he can’t take part in America’s biggest hot dog competition because he’s signed a deal with a vegan brand.
His withdrawal from next month’s Nathan’s hot dog eating contest in New York comes after he agreed to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a vegan hot dog manufacturer that competes with the Nathan’s brand.
“We are saddened to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs instead of competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Major League Eating (MLE) said Tuesday.
MLE added that Chestnut would be welcome to compete again, but only if he waived his vegan sponsorship.
“Joey Chestnut is an American hero, and we would love nothing more than to have him at the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest,” the statement said.
“We look forward to him returning when he’s not representing a rival brand.”
Chestnut has won the US televised Nathan’s competition 16 times.
The contest, which attracts around 40,000 participants each year, requires participants to eat as many hot dogs (and buns) as they can in 10 minutes.
Chestnut, 40, holds the world record for hot dog eating, having downed an astounding 76 hot dogs during a 2021 contest.
He also holds various food records, including eating 141 boiled eggs in eight minutes, 23 meat pies in 10 minutes, 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, and 25.5 ice cream sandwiches (also known as chocolate ice creams) in six minutes.
Chestnut said on social media he was “disappointed” when he found out about the ban, adding that he had “trained to defend himself.” [his] title”.
“To be honest, I don’t have a contract with MLE or Nathan’s and they are trying to change the rules of the past in terms of other partners I can work with,” he said.
He said MLE and Nathan’s “made great efforts” to accommodate Joey’s requests, but that Joey and his managers “approached the new partnership as a priority.”
The Fourth of July contest has been held every year since 1916, when Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker opened a food stand in Coney Island.
The story goes that on July 4th, 1916, the day Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs was founded, four European immigrants were arguing over who was the most American of them all, so they decided to settle the matter with a hot dog eating contest.
