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Jed Boal ReportingThe biggest football game of the year is Sunday. The "big game" gets bigger every year, and as a nation, we all get bigger every Super Bowl Sunday. Chowing down during the Super Bowl is nearly as big as the game itself.
It's now the second biggest eating holiday; only Thanksgiving tops it. While Steelers and Seahawks gear up for the game, Americans get ready to gorge. The Super Bowl means super sales for supermarkets across the country.
J.T. Martin, Emigration Market: "There's always a buzz around Super Bowl and it continues to grow and grow."
At Emigration Market in Salt Lake, the blitz is coming.
J.T. Martin: "Yeah, people are preparing. We're doing a couple, three caterings for super bowl parties. Veggie platters, meat platters, and of course the beer isle is quite popular."
It's Super Bowl 40; that's XL in roman numerals, which is quite fitting since that's how many of us will feel Monday morning.
The National Restaurant Association says pizza wins, hands down, for 60 percent of all takeout orders. Nationwide, pizza makers are expected to prepare 37-billion dollars worth of pie on game day.
But it's not all about junk food. Market researchers say we'll find more vegetables on those snack tables than any other snack. Collectively, we'll eat 43 million pounds of avacados, all chopped up into guacamole.
When you graze for three or four hours...there's always room for Buffalo Wings; 50 percent of us will eat some; and chips and more chips. Lot's of eating, but the second biggest feast of the year?
"Yeah, it does surprise me, but when you think about it, I know I'll be bellied up to a nacho platter during the game."
According to 7-11 stores, sales of antacid increase 20 percent the day after Super Bowl Sunday and six percent of Americans will call in sick the day after Super Bowl.