Chocolate Enters Competitive Eating Domain

From coast to coast, chocolate seems to have found its home like a caramel nugget inside of an almond-covered truffle.

There is nothing new about our land’s obsession with the velvety delight, but this season seems to bring this dessert to the forefront. That includes the sport trades, restaurant guides, and newspapers.

In fact, the entire globe is united onto chocolate as there is indeed an International Federation of Competitive Eating (if we have International Coalitions for war, why not one for food?) that oversees the most dedicated souls as they devour as much as they can, as quickly as they can. One Chicago student stocked up on four pounds of chocolates for a local contest.

While there are strategies to downing ounce after ounce of chocolate in hopes to win whatever prize is at stake (at this contest, $2,500 were at stake), one can only wonder about the toll this might take on a person’s health.

Dr. Michael Brown of Rush University Medical Center says: “I don’t think there’d be any long-term disability regarding that [they train their stomachs to hold more food than normal],” though damage to the esophagus is possible.

Dr. Julie Roth at Northwestern Memorial takes a different view: “My gut instinct tells me this is not a healthy thing.”

But for two and a half grand? I’d think that’d buy at least a new esophagus. Wonder how that’s covered in the International Federation’s by-laws.

Next Article:  Chocolate’s New Nobility

All Chocolate Articles | Christmas Chocolate | Corporate Gifts