The One Food Challenge Joey Chestnut Couldn't Stomach
If there's one thing Joey Chestnut is known for, it's eating hot dogs. Specifically, Nathan's Famous hot dogs. Joey wins the Mustard Belt year after year at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest (Matt Stonie beat him just the one time, in 2015), and he didn't even let quarantine stand in the way of his training for the 2020 contest (the one that was held indoors). Chestnut told the New York Post that Nathan's supplied him with 90 pounds of their famous franks, but that he ran out and had to buy more on his own dime (of which he has more than a few). His investment paid off when he not only won his 13th championship, but also set a new world record by cramming down 75 hot dogs and buns (via Sporting News).
Hot dogs aren't the only thing Chestnut competes to eat — he also holds world records for consuming prodigious amounts of poutine (28 pounds in 10 minutes), tacos (126 in eight minutes), ice cream sandwiches (25.5 in six minutes), glazed donuts (55 in eight minutes), and Big Macs (32 in 38 minutes, the most Macs ever swallowed in a single sitting). Chestnut does this for a living, yet still says "I love to eat." He does admit, though, that there have been a few challenges that weren't really to his taste.
Chestnut's worst food challenge
Chestnut mentioned a few food items that he has struggled with on his way to becoming the world's best competitive eater. Bratwurst is problematic, because "it's a different kind of gross. You feel like time is slowing down when you eat the fatty stuff. Still, for the most part, he finds savory foods easier to scarf down than sugary ones, telling the New York Post that sweet stuff "hits different. I get a headache sometimes."
The hardest struggle Chestnut had was with Pop-Tarts, though he did manage to struggle through 100 of them back in June (via YouTube). His verdict on making a food challenge out of this childhood breakfast treat? "It was terrible. I thought it would be delicious, start to end, but it got really, really old really quickly. They got superdry, it tore up my mouth, it took me longer. It was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be." He doesn't hate Pop-Tarts themselves, though, as he says he only eats foods he likes — and S'mores are his favorite flavor.