Competitive

Eating
Pre-reading Discussion Questions
• Have you ever been to a food eating
competition? If so, what happened?
If not, what do you think it would
be like to go to one?

• If you entered a food competition,

what would you eat and why?

• Do you think food competitions can

be dangerous or fun? Why?

The competitive eating phenomenon has really taken the world by storm over the past few
years; everywhere you go, you can probably find some sort of eating competition in which
competitors must wolf down large quantities of food as quickly as they can. From hot
dogs to eggs and from butter to mammoth plates of fish and chips, there’s something for
everyone. The rules are simple and depend on the type of competition - for example, in some
competitions, you have to eat the most amount of a certain food in a specific time, such
as thirty yoghurts in 10 minutes. On the other hand, some restaurants offer free meals for
those capable of eating piled-up platters of hearty foods like burgers, chips, onion rings and
sausages. But if you don’t manage to clean the plate, you still have to pay your bill! With
that in mind, let’s look at some interesting competitive eating competitions worldwide.

Raw Onions Hot Dogs

Now, we all know that cutting a
raw onion can be a real tear-jerking
experience, but how about eating one?
This competition is part of a fair in the
UK, and the current record
holder managed to chow
down a whole onion in 43
seconds back in 2019!
They’re an all-time favourite snack at local
fairgrounds and parties, and they’re loved
so much that every July 4th, a hot dog
eating contest is held in the United States.
The current record holder ate a whopping
76 hot dogs in ten
minutes and even broke
his own record doing so.

Page 1 of 2 visit twinkl.com

 Competitive Eating

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a well-known
sweet treat all over the world, but there’s a competition for
peanut butter and banana sandwiches every September in
which the winner takes home a cash prize. Back in 2010,
the winner gobbled down 36 sandwiches in an impressive
10 minutes and won 2000 dollars!

Jalapeño Peppers Mayonnaise

If you’re a lover of spicy food, People all over the world love mayo as a
you’re in for a real treat here. condiment to dip chips, chicken and fish in,
Back in 2006, a man ate 247 and it can also be used as a salad dressing,
peppers in 8 minutes and won but would you be able to stomach eating
the World Jalapeño Eating mayonnaise in a bowl with a spoon as if it were
Championship! We hope he yoghurt? That’s what one man did as part of a
had a glass of TV eating competition - he ate
water to drink 7.9lb of mayonnaise in eight
afterwards! minutes!

This resource has been made for the purpose of teaching English language learners. We know that students can be learning English in many different places, in many different ways and at age, so we try to
keep these resources as general as possible.
There are many acronyms associated with English language teaching. These include (but are not limited to) ELT, TEFL, EFL, ELL, EAL and ESOL. While the term ESL may not fully represent the linguistic
backgrounds of all students, it is the most widely recognised term for English language teaching globally. Therefore, we use the term ‘ESL’ in the names of our resources to make them easy to find but they are
suitable for any student learning to speak English.

Page 2 of 2 visit twinkl.com

 Competitive Eating

Questions
Vocabulary Questions

1. What does “to take something by storm” mean in the first line of the text?

2. “To wolf something down”. Can you think of the meaning of this idiom?

3. “Mammoth plates”. What’s a synonym for ‘mammoth’ in this context?

4. Can you think of two synonyms for the word ‘whopping’?

Reading Comprehension Questions

1. What do some restaurants offer people who can eat huge plates of food?

2. When is a hot dog eating contest held in the United States?

3. What happened at the 2010 peanut butter and banana eating competition?

Page 1 of 2 visit twinkl.com

 Competitive Eating
4. How much mayonnaise in eight minutes did a man eat on TV?

Writing Questions

1. Which of the eating competitions in the text would you like to go to and why?

2. Do you think governments should donate food instead of promoting competitive eating
competitions?

3. What do you think the health complications of competitive eating could be?

4. Research another competitive eating competition and write about it on the lines below.

Page 2 of 2 visit twinkl.com

 Competitive Eating

Answers
Vocabulary Questions

1. What does “to take something by storm” mean in the first line of the text?

It means to have great and rapid success.

2. “To wolf something down”. Can you think of the meaning of this idiom?

To eat something very quickly.

3. “Mammoth plates”. What’s a synonym for ‘mammoth’ in this context?

Huge.

4. Can you think of two synonyms for the word ‘whopping’?

Enormous, big.

Reading Comprehension Questions

1. What do some restaurants offer people who can eat huge plates of food?

They offer them free meals.

2. When is a hot dog eating contest held in the United States?

It is held every 4th of July.

3. What happened at the 2010 peanut butter and banana eating competition?

The winner ate 36 sandwiches in an impressive 10 minutes and won 2000 dollars!

4. How much mayonnaise in eight minutes did a man eat on TV?

He ate 7.9lb.

Writing Questions

Students' own answers.

Page 1 of 1 visit twinkl.com