I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but if you buy hot dogs and buns, you will never run out of both at the same time. There are usually 10 hot dogs in a package, but then the buns are only usually sold in packs of 8. And, look, there are definitely bigger problems in the world than the bun/dog discrepancy, but also, what is UP with that.
Thankfully, you don’t have to rack your brain about this mystery any longer. There is an organization called the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, and if anyone has the answer to this puzzle, it’s them.
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According to the council, there are different distributors for hot dogs and buns. Hot dogs were introduced to the market by producers of meat products, who based their decisions on how meat is usually priced: by the pound. Oscar Meyer chose the number 10 because having 10 dogs that weigh 1.6 ounces each seemed like the ideal distribution of weight per dog.
Hot dog buns came from bakeries, which have their own set of standards. Buns and sandwich rolls of all kinds are usually sold in packs of 8, because the baking trays are sized to fit that number of buns.
Photo Credit: iStock
So, yeah. The makers of these products are not in cahoots with each other, and they apparently couldn’t care less about whether it’s convenient for consumers. At this point, it would cause quite the kerfuffle to ask either industry to change how their product is manufactured.
And so, the not-enough-buns dilemma continues.
