Former CFL defensive lineman Adriano Belli’s family-owned Freshouse Foods attempting sausage world record

Photo courtesy: Toronto Argonauts

Former CFL player and two-time Grey Cup champion Adriano Belli is hoping to set a new world record for the largest naturally smoked sausage.

The sausage is expected to measure in at over 17 feet long and will have a diameter equivalent to that of a full-sized basketball.

Belli’s family-run Freshouse Foods is going to attempt to set the record on Thursday, May 18 at its Georgetown, Ont. location. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto with the Belli family making a personal donation.

Members of both the 2012 and 2022 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts will be in attendance and take part in a special sausage-eating contest where participants will attempt to break their own record of consuming more than 47 sausages on a bun as a team. The Grey Cup will also be on-site during the event.

After being selected in the first round during the 2001 CFL Draft, Belli played 11 seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Argos. He became one of the league’s most colourful characters during his playing career, earning the nickname ‘The Kissing Bandit’ and winning a pair of Grey Cups.

His first championship came with the Als in 2002 and he won his second with the double blue in 2012, Belli’s final season in the three-down league.

The Toronto native was a two-time East Division all-star while being named a league all-star in 2005. The six-foot-five, 290-pound defensive lineman recorded 213 tackles, 28 sacks, and three forced fumbles in 143 career game

Freshouse Foods was founded by Joseph Belli in 1957 and the company has two facilities located in Southern Ontario.