Science And Morphology – What’s In Hot Dogs?
I bring you the answer to one of the most burning questions of human history – what the hell is in hot dogs?
I mean we’ve all heard the horror stories and still we shovel them down our throats in ever increasing numbers so I doubt that this study from the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology titled, appropriately enough, “Applying morphologic techniques to evaluating hot dogs: what is in the hot dogs we eat?“
So, are you ready to find out, and hopefully you haven’t eaten in the last little while – especially any hot dogs, just what is in those American tubular packages of mystery?
Well here’s the break down courtesy of those fun science type guys B.E. Prayson, J.T. McMahon, and R.A. Prayson after they studied the composition of eight of the most popular hot dog brands in the country and were good enough to list some type of meat as their top ingredient.
While six of the brands listed water as the secondary ingredient the team found out thet water was in fact by far the primary ingredient – amounting for 44% to 60% of each hot dog.
When it came to meat – well that’s a whole different story.
All the hot dogs tested were only 2.9% to 21.2% actual meat and the percentage was directly proportional to the cost of the brand.
Here’s what the “meat” content broke down into:
- bone particle
- collagen
- blood vessels
- seven out of the eight contained peripheral nerves
- five brands contained adipose tissue
- four contained cartilage
- one contained skin tissue.
On the plus side all eight brands contained plant material so at least now the FDA can try and get hot dogs reclassified as a vegetable since there really isn’t any meat.
via GammaSquad
Comments
About the Author
Steven Hodson Steven has been around the tech world long enough to see most of the stuff we think of cool happen before which leads to a certain bit of cynicism that has contributed to him being known as the cranky old fart of the Internet. Besides sharing some of the goodness that he finds with you here at 42x you can also find him curating some digital goodness at Winextra (tech type stuff) and Rotten Gumdrops (for your daily dose of WTF).
Related Posts
25 Terribly Named Food & Drink Products →
Here’s A Hint – Gorging Yourself On Live Cockroaches For A Contest Isn’t Good For Your Health →
Ever Wonder Just How Much ‘Crap’ Is Allowed In Your Food By Law? [Infographic] →
