In Germany, they have been slinging sausage since at least the fourteenth century, many centuries before Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker set up his eventually famous nickel hot dog stand on Coney Island in 1916. While now as American as baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet, the hot dog is in fact a foreign object. And those are the ones that pass USDA mustard. So at least 54.5 percent of the hot dog must be meat. Also occasionally with fat, water, dry milk, cereal or isolated soy protein added, all of it permissible under U.S. Well, OK, that familiar meat, but spiced and blended with ice chips into a batter and then stuffed into casings and cooked and then peeled and often packed in plastic with sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite as a preservative. Most hot dogs are made of the same beef or pork or poultry one would buy elsewhere in the supermarket meat aisle. The second hair was thinner and was actually sticking out of the hot dog.вЂќ Reported one caller: вЂњThe hot dog appeared to be written on with a black magic marker with the letter вЂTвЂ™.вЂќ

by 3/4 of an inch,вЂќ вЂњpiece of metalвЂ¦ the size of 2 or 3 grains of sand,вЂќ вЂњmetal button shaped like a sharp object,вЂќ вЂњa bug,вЂќ вЂњa sharp hard object,вЂќ вЂњtwo hairsвЂ¦ one was short, black and could have been facial hair. long piece of something, вЂњa metal wire,вЂќ вЂњglass and potential mercury,вЂќ вЂњa crown,вЂќ вЂњa metal staple,вЂќ вЂњa metal shard,вЂќ вЂњa large piece of bone,вЂќ вЂњplastic,вЂќ вЂњpiece of rubber,вЂќ вЂњhuge chip of bone,вЂќ вЂњhuge amount of shredded plastic,вЂќ вЂњa metal objectвЂ¦ seemed like it was sharpened,вЂќ вЂњpiece of bone measuring 1 in. вЂњA piece of rubber band (blue),вЂќ вЂњwhat looks like insect larva,вЂќ вЂњtiny hard white pieces of plastic about 2-3 mm long,вЂќ вЂњa clump of hair or something ratlike,вЂќ вЂњthe tip of a razor blade,вЂќ вЂњsharp metal,вЂќ вЂњglass shards,вЂќ вЂњa long piece of blue plastic, like very thick plastic wrap,вЂќ вЂњa piece of bone, hard, jagged,вЂќ вЂњa 3 in. Still, according to the federal records, 38 Americans claim not to have been so fortunate. Flash forward and American consumers have filed just one foreign-object complaint concerning Ball Park Franks from the start of 2013 through Feb. The Journal reported that Sara Lee, the manufacturer of the popular Ball Park Franks brand, had five foreign-object complaints against it from the start of 1997 until mid-1999. Hot dog integrity appears to have improved since 1999, when the Wall Street Journal reported on what had been, by its estimation, вЂњ the wienerвЂ™s worst year ever.вЂќ Mass-market hot dogs were recalled in spades and blamed by the Centers for Disease Control for listeria poisoning. WhatвЂ™s on the label is what youвЂ™re going to find in the product.вЂќ Among USDA product recalls, hot dog recalls are relatively rare, and inspectors watch plants closely. Janet Riley, the president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council and self-dubbed вЂњQueen of Wien,вЂќ says, вЂњWe sure do what we can to avoid any kind of foreign object in there, and the records suggest that we do a really good job considering the numbers we produce. вЂњвЂ¦Caller owns a food manufacturing business and is therefore familiar with processing and packaging and is concerned that if a large silverfish could be packaged with the hotdogs the plant must have an infestation.вЂќ вЂњCaller found a large silverfish inside package of hot dogs,вЂќ a food safety official noted in a 2015 report. After eating it he kept picking at his teeth and when I looked he had a piece of metal stuck between his teeth.вЂќ вЂњI put a hot dog in the microwave for my toddler and while warming it started sparking and smoking which I thought was weird,вЂќ a complaint for 2014 reads, вЂњbut took it out and looked at it and didnвЂ™t see anything wrong so went ahead and gave it to him.

In their wieners Americans reported finding, among other things: вЂњa large ant,вЂќ вЂњa peppercorn like materialвЂ¦that appeared to be metal shavings,вЂќ вЂњa clump of hair (looks like eyelashes),вЂќ вЂњa needle resembling an injection needle,вЂќ вЂњa sheared off portion of a metal box cutter,вЂќ вЂњa dime,вЂќ вЂњa white hex nutвЂќ and вЂњa pill.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s a very small number-think of the billions of hot dogs that peaceably find their way onto our grills -but together the reports provide a window into how AmericaвЂ™s sausage gets made.

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