Hot Dog Eating Champ Could Still Compete If He Drops Vegan Weiners

by Steve MacDonald

I don’t typically pay any attention to this sort of thing, but it was difficult to resist when the link landed in my inbox. A 16-time consecutive Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Champ got booted from the upcoming Fourth of July festivities after lending his face (for compensation) to a plant-based Weiner.

California-born [Hot Dog eating legend Joey ] Chestnut, who recently signed up with a brand called Impossible Foods, won’t be allowed to compete in the Coney Island tradition and defend the title he’s won 16 times, including every year since 2016, the New York Post reported.

The food champ has completely dominated the competition earning a world record in 2021 with 76 dogs and buns and last year keeping the crown after chomping down on 62 wieners and buns.

The July 4th Nathan’s competition has taken place every year at the corner of Stillwell and Surf avenues, just steps away from the Boardwalk, since 1916.

I had my first Nathan’s Hotdog in New York City circa 1978. It was good, and it might have been due to the location, atmosphere, and high level of exhaust particulates in the local environment, but I had several and always got at least one on successive visits. I have not been to NYC in decades, nor am I inclined to go there again. There is no reason to do it. And Nathan’s franchise version up this way was not as good (IMO) as I remember. Like I said, atmosphere, particulates.

You can buy packages of them in the store these days—they’re also not the same, in my opinion—but they are Nathan’s beef franks, made with meat. And while hot dogs have a justifiably earned bad reputation, they are still insanely popular. Americans consume an estimated 20 billion of them annually. That’s Billion with a B.

So yeah, Joey the Dog Eating Champion can still join the annual thing, he just has t drop the vegan weiners.

Author

  • Steve MacDonald
    Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, complaint department, Op-ed editor, gatekeeper (most likely to miss typos because he has no editor), and contributor at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, The Republican Volunteer Coalition, has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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