Filed under: British Isles, Food Oddities, Trends, Super Size Me

There are two types of competitions in the world of competitive eating, whether you are talking about pros or about the contests you'll find at the local county fair. One type, perhaps the most popular type, emphasizes quantity and challenges participants to eat as much as they can in a set time limit. IFCOE contests from grilled cheese to ice cream to hot dogs run this way. Other contests challenge eaters to eat a certain amount as fast as possible.

With concerns about the amount of calories that the contest participants take in (and the possibility that they somehow encourage overeating and obesity), some contests are making the decision to switch to this second format, such as the committee behind the World Pie Eating Championship. Even though there have been concerns about choking in speed eating contests before, the WPEC will only have competitors eat one "regulation" meat pie in as short a time as possible. Also in the interest of health, they will be offering a meat-free pie option so as to encourage healthy eating while not discriminating against vegetarians who wish to participate.

Meatless option aside, it actually seems healthier to eat a lot of food than to simply stuff down food as fast as possible, although they planners' theory is that that goes on in the quantity-oriented contests, as well.