Man dies after competing in Calif. taco-eating contest

It wasn’t known how many were devoured

FRESNO, Calif. — A man in California died shortly after competing in a taco-eating contest at a minor league baseball game, authorities said Wednesday.

Dana Hutchings, 41, of Fresno, died Tuesday night shortly after arriving at a hospital, Fresno Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti said.

An autopsy on Hutchings will be done today to determine a cause of death, Botti said. It was not immediately known how many tacos the man had eaten or whether he had won the contest.

Tuesday night’s competition allowed amateurs to qualify for Saturday’s World Taco Eating Championship to be held at Fresno’s annual Taco Truck Throwdown, KFSN-TV reported.

Fresno Grizzlies spokesman Derek Franks did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. The team did not reference the incident on any of its social media platforms Wednesday, but an ad for Saturday’s taco-eating competition remained on its Facebook page.

During the 2018 Taco Eating Championship in Fresno, professional eater Geoffrey Esper downed 73 tacos in eight minutes, the television station reported.

Competitive-eating contests have become major attractions at festivals, sports games and other events. Among the most popular is the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest on New York’s Coney Island boardwalk, where this year’s champion ate 71 wieners and buns.

The Grizzlies are the TripleA affiliate of the Washington Nationals and play in the Pacific Coast League, as do the Albuquerque Isotopes.