12-Minute World Record Falls in Eight Minutes

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/26/2006 -- Patrick Bertoletti, a 20-year-old culinary student from Chicago, today won the GoldenPalace.net World Ice Cream Eating Championship by consuming 1.75 gallons of ice cream in eight minutes.

Bertoletti topped the previous 12-minute record of 1.5 gallons in only eight minutes, earning $2,000 for his efforts. Crazy Legs Conti placed second with 1.5 gallons to earn $1,000; Eater X, Tim Janus, placed third with 1.25 gallons to win $750, and Don Moses Lerman placed fourth with 1.1 gallons to win $250.

The contest featured vanilla ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, widely considered to be the purest and freshest ice cream in the world.

"Ice cream is clearly one of the most difficult disciplines on the circuit because of the 'Brain Freeze' factor," said IFOCE President Richard Shea. "However, most of these eaters are immune to the cold, and fresh-turned ice cream with pure ingredients is the fastest ice cream available."

The eight-minute all-you-can-eat contest marked the first-ever Goldenpalace.net Ice Cream Eating World Championship. Anyone who wishes to learn more about events sanctioned by the IFOCE can visit www.ifoce.com.