Disgusting eating contests appear to be a certain fatal attraction these days. We recently discussed the death of a man who won a roach-eating contest. Now a Tunisian man, Dhaou Fatnassi, 20, has died in a raw egg eating contest. He won after eating 28 and then died.

Fatnassi was challenged to the contest by friends and started experiencing stomach pains after winning.

Given the voluntary nature of such moronic contests, it is hard to assign liability. There is more of a basis for lawsuit with businesses that offer awards for dangerous acts. Those businesses however often require very detailed waivers from participants. We discuss the liability of stores in our torts class, particularly in light of the Weirum v. RKO decision holding a radio station liable for injuries caused to a third party when teenagers drove recklessly to find The Real Don Steele in his marked van. The court held that the reckless driving was a foreseeable response of teenagers to the promise of free concert tickets. However, this is liability to third parties generally. In this case, the man was a volunteer who clearly understood what he was engaged in as a contest. Indeed, he could have stopped at any time.

In the end, Cool Hand Luke ate 22 more but they were cooked:

Source: AU