The last "sin-eater"

I have to admit I'd never heard of a sin-eater until reading about them here. Apparently they were paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a dead body in the belief that they would take on the sins of that person. It sounds a worrying process to me: what if they skulked off early before eating enough, or all that beer made them sick? I'd much rather put my confidence in someone more trustworthy:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1 v 9