It’s summertime! Hot dogs are center stage on the grill and picnics all across America. They appear at ballparks. They are sold from carts on street corners in every city. It’s not hard to find them all around.
We consume hundreds of millions of hot dogs on the Fourth of July alone.
National Hot Dog Day celebrates one of America’s favorite summer sandwiches. It’s only fitting that this dog gets its day.
How many hot dogs do we eat?
We consume so many hot dogs that the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council hesitates to forecast consumption. But it does report that each year we buy over 837 million packages of hot dogs at retail outlets and over 24 million hot dogs at baseball stadiums.
Fun facts to commemorate the day!
- In 2010, consumers spent more than $1.6 billion on hot dogs in U.S. supermarkets.
- During a typical summer, Americans will consume a total of 7 billion hot dogs.
- The saying “as American as hot dogs, apple pie and baseball” comes from the fact that most hot dogs in America are consumed during baseball games.
- What’s the most popular hot dog topping among adults? It’s mustard, at 87.6%. Among kids, it’s ketchup.
- More hot dogs are eaten in Los Angeles than anywhere else in the country, beating out its old rival New York City which now comes in second.
- Speaking of the Big Apple, the nation’s most famous competitive eating contest takes place each year during Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July in Coney Island.
The origin of National Hot Dog Day is not known, nor is there any documentation confirming this to be a “National” day.
Whether it’s a National Day or not…how are YOU going to serve up your hot dog to honor this day?
I am going to have an Oscar Meyer Angus Beef Gluten Free Hot Dog topped with ketchup, mustard, relish, onion, and cheese. Yummo!
