How healthy are the hot dogs you’re eating?

If you’ve eaten your share of standard hot dogs, now might be a good time to ask yourself 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 that probably ranks even above apple pie. Despite damaging rumors about unsavory ingredients like pig snouts or chicken feathers, the sausages have continued to sell at record rates. It has been estimated that the average American eats about 70 hotdogs per year, and 95% of American households serve hotdogs at one time or another. No doubt a good number of them are served on the 4th of July!

In 2006 alone, Americans ate enough hot dogs to stretch from Washington DC to San Francisco. New York outperforms all other US cities in hot dog consumption per capita. Chicago is also known for its hot dog consumption, with O’Hare Airport selling six times more hot dogs than Los Angeles International Airport and LaGuardia Airport combined.

So what’s in hot dogs? According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, they can contain a variety of meat sources such as pork, beef, chicken, or turkey. If the label states “with a variety of meats” or includes “meat by-products,” liver, kidneys, and hearts may also be included in the sausage ingredients.

Weiners with the term “mechanically separated meat” (MSM) on the label have been processed through a sieve or other mechanical device intended 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), a certain percentage of mechanically separated pork, chicken, or turkey may still be present.

If you feel you must eat meat-based hot dogs, the safest hot dogs are those labeled “all beef” or “all” some other type of meat. When this label is applied, wiener ingredients may only include meat from a single species. More importantly, meat by-products are not allowed.

Even “all beef” or “all chicken” hot dogs usually contain MSG or sodium nitrate as flavor enhancers. Research has shown that sodium nitrate contributes to the formation of cancer-causing chemicals in the body. Although not banned, MSG has also been blamed for a number of ailments, including migraines, asthma attacks, and sleep disturbances.

Since Americans aren’t likely to give up their standard hot dogs, a safer alternative would be to eat a vegan or vegetarian option. Such sausages would be delicious grilled and placed on a bun with traditional toppings like mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard or pickle sauce. 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 during the annual picnic, the owner of the golf course always grills some of these vegan or vegetarian sausages. Though 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 fat.

If you’re worried about the ingredients in typical sausages or wondering what’s in them, 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 save a cow’s life) in the process.