Man Wins Roach-Eating Contest, Dies

Eddie Archbold died after downing dozens of live roaches
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Suggested by truthtella
Posted Oct 9, 2012 1:44 AM CDT
Man Wins Bug-Eating Contest, Loses Life
Eating cockroaches isn't usually deadly, experts say.   (Shutterstock)

A Florida man won first prize in a pet store's insect-eating contest by gobbling dozens of live cockroaches and other insects, but he didn't get a chance to savor the victory. He collapsed in front of the store soon afterward and was pronounced dead at the hospital, the BBC reports. None of the other 30 contestants became ill and investigators plan to do an autopsy to determine the cause of 32-year-old Eddie Archbold's death. He won the store's grand prize, a pet python, with his roach-eating prowess.

"We all liked him right away," a spokesman for the store says. "All of us here at Ben Siegel Reptiles are sad that we will not get to know Eddie better, for in the short time we knew him, he was very well liked by all." A professor of entomology says he has never heard of someone dying from eating roaches before. "Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat," he tells the AP. "Some people do have allergies to roaches, but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects." (More strange stuff stories.)

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