WSU Thurston County
720 Sleater Kinney RD SE
Suite Y
Lacey WA 98503
360-786-5445
360-455-1575 (fax)
Thurston County Extension
Food Safety: All About Foods
Familiarity Doesn't Breed Contempt for Hot Dogs
The Olympian, June 24, 1998
For many Americans, nothing compares to eating a juicy hot dog. Baseball games, picnics, parties and backyard barbecues wouldn't be complete without one of our favorite summertime foods.
According to Discovery Channel Online, we consume 20 billion hot dogs each year, That's an average of 60 hot dogs for every man, woman, and child in the United States. It's enough hot dogs to stretch from Boston to Los Angeles.
QUESTION: What are hot dogs?
ANSWER: Hot dogs are cooked, smoked sausages. The federal government sets standards for their content, and the label must state whether they are made from beef, port, turkey or chicken. While there is variation in the type of products and meat byproducts that are used in different kinds of hot dogs, their content is controlled by federal law.
Hot dogs also have a mixture of ingredients that add to flavor, color, and act as preservatives to extend their shelf life. These ingredients may include things like nonfat dry milk, cereal, dried whole milk or soy protein. If they are used, they must be listed on the label.
Hot dogs come in all shapes and sizes. According to federal standards, they may not contain more than 30 percent fat and 10 percent water.
QUESTION: How are hot dogs manufactured?
ANSWER: Basically, the ingredients allowed by federal law are finely ground, mixed and forced, under pressure, through a small opening into a casing. During the grinding process, water or ice may be used. This addition helps dissolve flavoring ingredients. The hot dog is then smoked or cooked to doneness. Many of the hot dogs Americans purchase are skinless. That is, after the cooking/smoking process, the casings are removed prior to packaging.
QUESTION: What ingredients are used in hot dogs?
ANSWER: This gets complicated to explain in a short column since the federally regulated in are specific to the type of hot dog. For instance, beef hot dogs are cooked, smoked sausage products made from beef and do not include any byproducts like liver or other organs from the cow. Turkey or chicken hot dogs can contain turkey or chicken skin and fat in natural proportions of that found on a turkey or chicken carcass along with the meat.
All ingredients in the product must be listed in the ingredient statement in order of predominance from the one weighing the most listed first to the one weighing the least listed last. When you read the ingredient list, you may notice that the list on beef and pork hot dogs sometimes includes calcium. During processing of beef and pork, the meat is usually mechanically separated and may contain small amounts of pulverized, powdered bone - thus the calcium content of the final product.
Before you jump to any conclusions about beef or pork hot dogs, however, you should know that chicken and turkey hot dogs are also mechanically deboned and may also contain powdered calcium coming from the bone. You won't see calcium on their label however. Federal law is different for these products.
Labeling is sometimes difficult to understand, and the best place to get answers is the Meat and Poultry Hotline of the United States Department of Agriculture. Call 800-535-4555 form noon to 4 p.m. EST Monday through Friday and talk with a food science specialist.
B. Susie Craig
Area Faculty
WSU Cooperative Extension Thurston County
Return to Food Safety Article Index
WSU Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension Office. Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the county of Thurston.
Site Developer: Terri LaMoureaux
Web Master: Marilyn First
Last updated January 22, 2001