The world record for competitive hot dog eating has been broken in the US.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut ate 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the annual 4 July contest at Coney Island in New York, shattering his old record of 66.

His main rival, Japan’s six-time winner Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi, ate 64 and a half. It is thought the two men ate around 19,000 calories between them.

The first such hot dog eating contest was held in 1916, when the winner put away only 13 franks.

The two men have gone gut-to-gut for almost a decade at the annual competition, which has become an Independence Day tradition in the US.

This year’s contest was broadcast live on sports channel ESPN, and featured much of the fanfare usually reserved for professional sporting events.

Mr Chestnut, who won his third straight title in a row, takes home $20,000 (