Is Joey Chestnut vegan? How Impossible Foods partnership pushed hot dog champ out of Nathan's contest

Joey Chestnut, for the first time in 17 years, will not be competing in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. The world-record holder in hot dogs consumed, Chestnut will not participate due to a conflicting partnership he has with Impossible Foods.

Impossible Foods is a popular plant-based meat company that conveniently makes plant-based hot dogs. That, however, didn't sit right with the folks over at Nathan's, and someone other than Chestnut will take the title this year. 

Chestnut's sudden support of a company so prominent in the vegan community brings up the question of whether he's a member of that community himself. Could one of the world's most notorious appetites have taken a turn down the plant-based road? The Sporting News has you covered as to whether Chestnut became a vegan.

MORE: What is Impossible Foods?

Is Joey Chestnut vegan?

Though his partnership with Impossible Foods might suggest it, Joey Chestnut is not vegan. As recently as May of this year, Chestnut was competing in meat-eating contests including The 2024 Ultimate Bologna Showdown where he ate 14 pounds of bologna, shattering the previous record of three pounds. Several of his recent social media posts also include meat, indicating he isn't privy to the vegan lifestyle.

Is Joey Chestnut banned from from Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest?

There was some confusion as to whether Chestnut was actually banned from the competition or not. Initially, the ban was reported by the New York Post as a sponsorship dispute. Though Nathan's was still willing to let him compete, they would not let him to promote a different hot dog brand, which in this case would be Impossible Foods. 

Major League Eating even made Chestnut a four-year, $1.2 million contract offer to try to lure him back, and MLE along with Nathan's said they would welcome him if he agreed to their conditions. 

However, a couple hours later, NBC News reported that there was never a ban in place by the MLE. Richard Shea of MLE said the organization "wants" him at the event, but Chestnut expressed his frustration with the situation on X nonetheless. 

Chestnut blamed MLE for changing its rules regarding exclusivity in an interview with Sports Illustrated ahead of Thursday's contest.

And they tried to dance around it," Chestnut said. "They changed a lot of terms, and then they escalated things to a degree they didn’t imagine when they started leaking information and telling people I was banned and that I turned vegan, which clearly isn’t the case."

By the time MLE changed its rules, Chestnut says, it was already too late for him to do anything about it.

Rather than competing at Coney Island, Chestnut has accepted an invitation to compete in another hot dog eating contest against soldiers in Fort Bliss, Texas. The event will be sponsored by none other than Impossible Foods.

MORE: Full details on Joey Chestnut vs. Takeru Kobayashi

Joey Chestnut hot dog record

Chestnut's world record is 76 hot dogs and buns, which he earned on July 4, 2021. He has won Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 16 times, including the last eight competitions in a row. He lost to Matt Stonie in 2015, but has taken the crown every year since then.