Joey Chestnut takes on rival challenge after being barred from Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest

Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest has one obvious omission in the men’s competition this year.

Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest has one obvious omission in the men’s competition this year. That’s because dynastic hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut isn’t competing, after he struck a deal with plant-based food company Impossible Foods. Chestnut has won the “Mustard Yellow Belt” 16 times, and ate a world record 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021. If Chestnut was absent from Nathan’s contest, he wasn’t going to allow Independence Day to pass by without taking on a food challenge. The 40-year-old will be competing in his own showcase event, taking on four US Army soldiers at the Fort Bliss base in El Paso, Texas, in an “all-beef” hot dog eating event. The contest, which hopes to raise money for military families, will last five minutes and Chestnut will have one eye on his rivals competing in Coney Island.