July is time to celebrate the American favorite; the hot dog!!
The current world record holder for the world's longest hot dog, which was created at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo, in 2006. The hot dog, certified by Guinness as the record holder, was 60.3m in length. This photo, by Tim Lindenschmidt, shows the hot dog after it was assembled, but before it was cut into pieces and eaten.
While hot dogs are available and yummy to eat year-round, it was in 1957 when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce officially designated July as National Hot Dog month. America’s love of the hot dog is all in the numbers; it’s estimated that more than 20 billion hot dogs are consumed annually with close to 150 million of those consumed on the Fourth of July alone!
The next time you sit down to a tasty hot dog meal and local in-season produce, why not share some interesting trivia with your friends and family. Did you know:
- Baseball fans will consume more than 26 million hot dogs at US baseball stadiums this season. That’s enough to circle the bases 36,000 times.
- In honor of the 1996 Olympics, the world’s biggest hot dog was 1,996 feet long, created by Sara Lee Corp.
- The most popular hot dog topping among adults is mustard (87.6%). Among children, it is ketchup.
- The average hot dog is consumed in 6.1 bites. (average sized mouth tested)
- NASA has approved hot dogs as a regular item on Apollo moon flights, Skylab missions and space shuttle flights.
- Did you know there is a “right” and a “wrong” way to enjoy your hot dog? Check out these etiquette tips.
- Use a spatula or tongs to cook your hot dog on the grill. They can lose moisture and tasty juices when pierced by a fork.
- From Memorial Day to Labor Day every year, Americans typically consume 7 billion hot dogs. That’s 818 hot dogs consumed every second.
- U.S. soldiers in military posts around the world consumed 2.4 million hot dogs in 2007.
- Arizona’s claim to hot dog fame is that the World Hot Dog Eating competition was held in Tempe.
Check out the list of Farmers Markets to see which one of them close to you might serve up these tasty treats.