except for JJ you guys always mention dogs I have never had.
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Summer time means bar-be-cue and that often includes hot dogs. The ingredients of a hot dog have long been the subject of rumors, horror stories and humor. But what are you really eating? And how can you make smart choices? Tom O’Neal separates fact from fiction.
"I just figure they use the scraps.” "tongue, ears.” “ears, nose, guts.” “they can contain a certain amount of teeth, toenails, hair." Americans may have their own idea on what hot dogs are made of, but it doesn't stop them from eating 20 billion every year. Andrew Clarke, meat specialist, “we don’t need to know how to build a car in order to drive one; we don’t need to know what's in the sausage in order to eat them." University of Missouri meat specialist Andrew Clarke says carefully read the label before you buy, and be aware of “variety meats.” “They can include the hearts, tripe, stomach and lips." And that's not all. Variety meats, also called meat by-products, can include brains, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, tongue, jowls and tail. The hot dog maker must list any variety meats or meat by-products on the label.
"it's just not a pure, it's not a roast here.” St. Louis University dietician Marjorie Sawicki says you can relax. Most name brand hot dogs don’t use variety meat. "hot dogs are gonna be made with 85 percent muscle meat, so it's the muscle meat off of beef, pork, chicken or turkey.” Muscle meat is the kind Americans are used to eating in steaks, roasts and burgers. But it can also include cheeks and tongues. “we don’t eat cheeks off of animals, not most people, but there are still muscles in the cheeks.” When so-called 'non-skeletal' muscle meats are used, they must be included on the packaging. The remaining hotdog ingredients include water, salt, corn syrup, flavorings and binding agents. "we want to see meat being the first ingredient, water being down the line." The first ingredient is listed in the greatest quantity and the last in the smallest amount. Sawicki says less expensive hot dogs often contain more water and salt.
On some labels you'll see 'mechanically separated meat.' "Mechanically separated meats means there can be small amounts of bone, because they're actually scraping the bone to get all the meat off the carcass." Sawicki says dieticians are more concerned about the nutrition value of a hot dog than the meat used to make one. “I don’t think people realize how much fat and saturated fat is in a hot dog.” Sawicki says up to half the fat in a hot dog can be saturated, the bad kind. And sodium? “We have 1/4 of our sodium for the day in one little hot dog.” Chicken and turkey hot dogs can be healthier, but don't cook up the same as regular dogs. Still she says, if you don’t eat hot dogs every day… "if you're going to have one, enjoy a good one." Sawicki points out that eating unusual parts of an animal isn't uncommon for some cultures. And she says, beware of nitrates in hot dogs and lunch meat; they've been linked to cancer. The bottom line: eat hot dogs in moderation.
