Hot dog eating god Joey Chestnut has a brand new BEEF -- this time, he's biting back at legendary sports reporter Peter King who's crapping all over food eating competitions.
FYI, King has a real problem with ESPN releasing a new "30 for 30" special this week on the rivalry between Chestnut and his wiener-gobbling rival, Takeru Kobayashi.
"A shame that as at least a fifth of children in America go to bed hungry nightly [ESPN is] highlighting gluttony, treating someone who overeats excessively as a 'competitive athlete,'" King wrote ... "Truly disgusting."
So, when we spotted Chestnut in NYC -- getting ready to defend his mustard yellow belt at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 on Coney Island, we had to ask for his thoughts.
"I think Peter King ... he's kind of narrow-minded," Chestnut said ... "He's picking low hanging fruit."
"It's easy to criticize something ... he could easily criticize NASCAR for greenhouse gas emissions."
Chestnut says at the end of the day, the amount of food consumed at the competition is "very small" -- and notes that Major League Eating is very involved in donating to food banks around the country.
There's more ... Chestnut also said he wants to end his rivalry with Kobayashi once and for all -- telling TMZ Sports he'd love to sit down with Takeru and hash things out once and for all.