National Hot Dog Day

It is celebrated on the third Wednesday of July, except when Wednesday falls on July 1st, then it is held on the 4th Wednesday. This year it is July 18.
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans eat more than 20 billion hot dogs every year. More than 155 million hot dogs will be eaten during the Fourth of July weekend. The Council estimates each American eats 60 hot dogs every year on average.
Favorite hot dog add-on for adults is mustard. Children prefer ketchup.

The annual Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is the world's most famous hot dog eating contest. It has also become an Independence Day tradition for many. Each year, more than 40,000 people come to Coney Island to watch the contest.

During the contest, 20 people compete to see who can eat the most hot dogs with buns in just 10 minutes. The winner gets to wear a special jeweled mustard-yellow belt and receives a cash prize.
Miki Sudo held onto her title as the top women's competitor at the 2018 contest, downing 37 franks and buns to take home her prize for the fifth consecutive year.

Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California, holds the world record for hot dog eating. In 2016, he ate 73.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. He also won during 2017. He broke his own world record on July 4, 2018 by eating 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes to claim his 11th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest title. Yikes!

National Hot Dog Day

You can renew that bad breath with some of your favorite toppings on a hot dog, wiener, or frankfurter. This week, July 23, Americans celebrated National Hot Dog day.

Hot dogs were originally culturally imported from Germany. The word frankfurter comes from Frankfurt, Germany, where pork sausages similar to hot dogs originated. Wiener refers to Vienna, Austria, whose German name is 'Wien', home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef.

Americans eat seven billion hot dogs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That amounts to about 818 hot dogs consumed every second, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

Hot dogs are made with a simple mixture of ground meats and spices, such as salt, garlic, and paprika. Some commercial makers include binders and fillers. Preservatives from curing typically include sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite. Skinless dogs have the casing removed after cooking and before packaging. I love the natural casing dogs that crunch with every bite.