Careful, Baseball Fans! Too Many Ballpark Hot Dogs Could Kill You

You walk into Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Fenway Park, or any other baseball park across the country. You turn left, and the beer line is miles long. You turn right, and the line for the hot dog stand is miles long, too.

If what the New York Post wrote earlier this week is true, the people you see when you turn to your right don't have long to live.

Morbid, right? I agree, but check this out.

THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES! By the time you've eaten seven hot dogs, you've already lost one episode's worth of 'The Drive' off of your life. The math behind this is insane, but let's dive a little deeper. If the Post is right, how much time have we all lost off of our lives?

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I began my research by going to the ultimate authority on hot dogs and similarly-shaped foods. That's right, I went to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website. Here's what they said:

The Council estimates Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs a year - more than twice the retail sales figures. That works out to about 70 hot dogs per person each year.- NHDSC

Alright, math time. 70 hot dogs x 35 minutes = 2,450 minutes. Divide that total by 60, and the average American loses 40.8 HOURS OFF OF THEIR LIFE simply by enjoying a reasonable amount of hot dogs during a given year. Now, I am aware of the questionable materials that are combined to create a hot dog. It's no secret that a hot dog is created with a "little of this, little of that" mentality. That being said, they're delicious, they're a perfect summer meal, and they're the perfect dimensions to hold in one hand while you hold a beer or beverage in the other. Let's get to the real question, though: how isn't Joey Chestnut dead yet?

Okay, so maybe the Post's statistic isn't exact after all. We can all return to Famous Lunch and Hot Dog Charlie's with the peace of mind knowing we probably won't croak after eating one more hot dog.