25 Hot Dog Facts for 25 Years

From the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council

A quarter century ago the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council was founded as a project of the American Meat Institute as an information resource on questions related to quality, safety, nutrition and preparation of hot dogs and sausages. During that time we’ve shared hot dog facts to audiences around the globe. To celebrate this silver anniversary, we collected 25 of our favorite hot dog facts in one place.

  1. A Hot Dog is not a sandwich
  2. In 2018, consumers spent more than $3 billion on hot dogs in U.S. supermarkets
  3. Franks and wieners were the original names for the Americanized hot dogs
  4. During peak hot dog season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans are expected to consume 7 billion hot dogs
  5. On Independence Day, Americans are expected to enjoy 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times
  6. Los Angeles residents consume more hot dogs than any other city
  7. Hot dogs were one of the first foods eaten on the moon
  8. A hot dog is a sausage but a sausage isn’t necessarily a hot dog
  9. A hot dog without meat or poultry cannot be called a hot dog
  10. A standard beef hot dog is 190 calories, offers 7 grams or protein and 30 percent of our Daily Value of Vitamin B12, a crucial nutrient for normal metabolism, brain development in children and mental clarity in adults
  11. Hot Dogs were first sold at baseball games in 1893
  12. The average weight of a fully loaded baseball park hot dog vendor’s bin is 40 pounds
  13. Miller Park in Milwaukee is the only Major League Baseball ballpark that sells more sausages than hot dogs per season
  14. The world’s longest hot dog was 668 feet long, enough to cover two football fields
  15. Mickey Mouse’s first on screen words were “Hot Dog!”
  16. NHDSC hot dog etiquette states that ketchup should not be used on a hot dog for anyone over the age of 18
  17. In the movie “Sudden Impact”, Dirty Harry said “Nobody, I mean nobody, puts ketchup on a hot dog”
  18. A prime spot outside New York’s Central Park Zoo costs hot dog vendors nearly $300,000 per year
    hot-dog-vendor
  19. The popular restaurant chain Carl’s Jr started as a hot dog cart on July 17, 1941 in Los Angeles, exactly 78 years before this year’s National Hot Dog Day
  20. President Franklin D. Roosevelt served hot dogs to King George and Queen Elizabeth. The king ate two
  21. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ate a hot dog during the first visit of a Soviet Premier to the US in 1959 and admitted that Americans had the Soviets beat at sausage making
  22. Frankfurt, Germany claims to be the originator of the hot dog and celebrated the hot dog’s 500th birthday in 1987
  23. Americans say the celebrity they’d most like to enjoy a hot dog with is 97 year old Betty White
  24. Joey Chestnut ate 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes, a record, in 2018
  25. “Hot dogs are meant to be enjoyed -- not weaponized." was ESPNs quote of the year after the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council reacted to a fan throwing a hot dog at Tiger Woods during an event

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Fast Facts

How Do You Say...?

Traveling abroad soon? You'll never be hungry again with the following translations.

  • Spanish - Perrito Caliente
  • Italian - Caldo Cane
  • French - Chien Chaud
  • German - Heisser Hund, or Wurst
  • Portugese - Cachorro Quente
  • Swedish - Korv, or Varmkorv
  • Norweigan and Danish - Grillpolser
  • Czech - Park v Rohliku
  • Dutch - Worstjes
  • Finnish - Makkarat

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