Monday, October 26, 2015

Hot Dog News

In the news recently: a company called Clear Labs has been studying food using genetic analysis. The project is called Clear Food. Their first study was on hotdogs. If you love hotdogs, you may want to stop reading now.

Ok, you’re still with me. Here’s the result of their study: of 345 hotdogs and sausages from 75 brands analyzed for the hotdog report, 14.4% “were problematic in some way.”

Ten percent of vegetarian hotdogs contain meat. The study I read didn’t say how much meat.

Some hotdogs contain meat not listed on the label. Three percent contain unlisted pork. That doesn’t bother me personally. If a turkey dog contains a little chicken, I’m okay with that. If a beef hotdog contains a little turkey, I’m okay with that. If a hotdog contains cat or dog or armadillo, that is a problem.

Human DNA was found in two percent of hotdogs. I assume that’s from people coughing or sneezing or spitting on the meat. I’m not okay with human DNA in my hotdogs. On the other hand, it would not surprise me to learn that a lot of restaurant food contains human DNA.

Some companies exaggerate the amount of protein in their hotdogs by as much as 250 percent. My reaction: meh. People don’t eat hotdogs because they want protein. People eat hotdogs because with the appropriate toppings, they taste so darn good. Chili-with-onion dogs taste better than chili with onion. Slaw dogs taste better than coleslaw. You wouldn’t eat hotdog relish out of the jar, but put it on a hotdog and you have a tasty treat. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Bottom line: enjoy your hotdogs. Don’t spoil the occasion by thinking about what you might really be eating.

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