Man Eats 247 Jalapenos to Win Contest
The Associated Press
A 62-year-old retired accountant from Nevada swallowed
247 peppers in eight minutes to win the Jalapeno
Eating World Championship at the State Fair of
Texas.
Richard LeFevre won $2,000 for
prevailing in Sunday's contest, which was sponsored
by the International Federation of Competitive
Eating.
"I love to eat, and I love to compete, so
the two go pretty well together," said LeFevre,
the world's eighth-ranked eater according to the
federation.
LeFevre, who has also won the fair's World Corny
Dog Eating Contest three times, said his winning
strategy was to mix three or four peppers in his
mouth with a swig of milk before swallowing.
LeFevre was one of four professional eaters who
took the top four places in the competition.
Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas
said she had never eaten a jalapeno before the
contest. Ranked third in the world by the federation,
she downed 239 peppers to take second place and
$1,000 in prize money.
Christopher Huang, of Arlington,
entered the competition even though he doesn't
normally eat spicy foods.
"I eat mild salsa," Huang said. "But
there's nothing like putting yourself through
a lot of pain for no reason."
The 26-year-old required several minutes of recovery
time after eating 53 jalapenos.
"I cant feel my face," he said when
he was able to speak again.
Dr. Daniel DeMarco, a gastroenterologist
and director of endoscopy at Baylor University
Medical Center at Dallas, said the amount of jalapenos
consumed in an eating contest is more harmful
than the burn.
"It's really pretty stupid," DeMarco
said. "Like any sort of abuse of your body,
it doesn't make any sense."
He said long-term complications are unlikely,
but there are some risks.
"If they get sick, they're going to be vomiting
it up, and that can cause esophageal tears,"
he said.