If you’ve had your share of ballpark sausage, now may be a good time to wonder how healthy hot dogs really are in your diet.
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans consume about 20 billion hot dogs a year, qualifying them as a national favorite food that probably ranks above even apple pie. Despite damaging rumors about nasty ingredients like pig snouts or chicken feathers, hot dogs have continued to sell at a record rate. It has been estimated that the average American eats about 70 hot dogs per year, and 95% of American households serve hot dogs at one time or another. Undoubtedly, a good number of them are served on the 4th of July!
In 2006 alone, Americans ate enough ballpark hot dogs to spread across from Washington DC to San Francisco. New York leads all other US cities in per capita hot dog consumption. Chicago is also known for its sausage consumption, with O’Hare Airport selling six times more hot dogs than Los Angeles International Airport and LaGuardia Airport combined.
So what do hot dogs contain? According to the National Council of Hot Dogs and Sausages, they can contain a variety of meat sources such as pork, beef, chicken or turkey. If listed on the label as “a variety of meats” or includes “meat by-products,” liver, kidney, and heart may also be included in hot dog ingredients.
Weiners with the term “mechanically separated meat” (MSM) on the label have been processed through a strainer or other mechanical device designed to separate the meat from the bones. Although mechanically separated beef is no longer allowed in hot dogs (due to the threat of mad cow disease), there may still be a certain percentage of mechanically separated pork, chicken or turkey.
If you think you must eat meat-based hot dogs, the safest hot dogs are those labeled “all meat” or “all” some other type of meat. When this label is applied, sausage ingredients can only include meat of a single species. More importantly, no meat by-products are allowed.
Even “all meat” or “all chicken” hot dogs generally contain MSG or sodium nitrate as flavor enhancers. Research has shown that sodium nitrate contributes to the formation of carcinogenic chemicals in the body. Although not prohibited, monosodium glutamate has also been blamed for a number of ailments, including migraines, asthma attacks, and sleep disturbances.
Since Americans are unlikely to give up their stadium francs, a safer alternative would be to consume a vegan or vegetarian option. Such sausages would be delicious prepared on a grill and placed in a bun with the traditional ingredients like mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, or pickle seasoning. They’re low in fat, low (or zero) in cholesterol, and free from the danger of mad cow disease (not to mention bone meal or meat by-products).
There are enough vegetarians in our golf league now that the golf course owner always grills some of these vegan or vegetarian hot dogs during the annual picnic. Although he’s not a vegetarian himself, he even thinks about putting the vegan weiners on the top rung of the grill so they don’t pick up any drips.
If you are concerned about the ingredients of a typical ballpark frank, or wondering what they contain, now might be a good time to try a vegan or vegetarian option. You may find that you quite like the taste and improve your health (as well as saving a cow’s life) in the process.