Michel Lotito

Michel Lotito (15 June 1950 25 June 2007) was a French entertainer, born in Grenoble, famous for deliberate consumption of indigestible objects. He came to be known as Monsieur "Mouth" Mangetout ("Mr. Eat-All"). He started eating this unusual diet at age 9.
Entertainment
Michel Lotito began eating unusual material at 9 years of age, and he performed publicly beginning in 1966, around the age of 16. He had an eating disorder known as pica, which is a psychological disorder characterised by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive. Doctors determined that Lotito also had a thick lining in his stomach and intestines which allowed his consumption of sharp metal without suffering injury. Lotito also had digestive juices that were unusually powerful, meaning that he could digest the unusual materials. However, it also meant that soft foods, such as bananas and hard-boiled eggs, made him sick.
Lotito's performance involved the consumption of metal, glass, rubber and other materials. He disassembled, cut up, and consumed items such as bicycles, shopping carts, televisions, beds and a Cessna 150, among other items. It took him roughly two years, from 1978 to 1980, to eat the Cessna 150.
Lotito claimed not to suffer ill effects from his consumption of substances typically considered poisonous. When performing, he ingested approximately of material daily, preceding it with mineral oil and drinking considerable quantities of water during the meal. It is estimated that between 1959 and 1997, Lotito "had eaten nearly nine tons of metal."
Lotito's method for eating all of this metal was to break it into small pieces before attempting to eat it. He then drank mineral oil and continued to drink water while swallowing the metal bits. This allowed him to swallow the metal without damaging his throat. Lotito did not have any digestive problems as a result of his unusual diet.
In 2022, Madison Dapcevich of Snopes, the fact-checking website, investigated Lotito's claim that he ate an entire airplane. She concluded that, although there are many accounts of Lotito's consumption of unusual objects, and that he "very likely" consumed such objects on stage as a professional entertainer, she was unable to confirm that Lotito ate an entire airplane, or even part of one.
Awards
Lotito holds the record for the 'strangest diet' in the Guinness Book of Records. He was awarded a brass plaque by the publishers to commemorate his abilities. He ate his award.
Death
Lotito died of natural causes on 25 June 2007. He is buried at Saint Roch Cemetery in Grenoble, his hometown.
List of unusual items consumed
At least:
45 door hinges
18 bicycles
15 shopping carts
7 TV sets
6 chandeliers
2 beds
1 pair of skis
1 computer
1 Cessna 150 light aircraft
1 waterbed (full of water)
of steel chain at once
1 coffin (with handles)
1 Guinness award plaque
Assorted razors and bolts
In popular culture
The Man Who Ate the 747 (2000) is the debut novel of Ben Sherwood. It follows a record keeper for The Book of Records who discovers a farmer attempting to woo a woman by gradually eating a Boeing 747. The novel was heavily inspired by The Guinness Book of World Records; Sherwood interviewed Lotito via telephone as part of his research.
How to Eat an Airplane (2016) is a picture book based on Lotito, written by Peter Pearson and illustrated by Mircea Catusanu.
References
1950 births
2007 deaths
French performance artists
People from Grenoble
Pica (disorder)
Ripley's Believe It or Not!