Hotdog report shows human DNA, meat in 'vegetarian' variant: study

When hot dog was first introduced in the United States, it was a favorite working class treat eaten on the streets as either grilled or steamed and presented in between a sliced bun. From being an iconic baseball game treat to being included in traditions like "Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest", this popular and beloved sausage will always be a part of American culture no matter what. However, a new hot dog report might change the way Americans view hot dogs as it showed several shocking content such as human DNA and meat in a supposedly vegetarian variety.

According to Fox News, out of 345 hot dog samples that were tested by the lab Clear Food, almost 15 percent showed problems when it comes to content, labeling and possible preparation of the hot dogs. The researchers discovered meat in hot dogs that have been labeled as "vegetarian", pork in supposedly "kosher" variants, and two-thirds of the vegetarian hot dogs also showed two percent of human DNA.

The report also gave way to providing ratings on retailers and sausage makers who claimed that their sausages are the best quality. Clear Food plans to publish a series of reports on a monthly basis to provide an accurate review of the content, nutrients, and other nutritional information of each brand.

Food Safety Magazine adds a detailed presentation of the other problems Clear Food has seen on over 75 brands of hot dogs. These are:

• Hot dogs that were supposed to be meat-free contained chicken, beef, turkey, and lamb
• Pork-free variants actually had traces of pork, a banned ingredient for most Kosher diets
• Hot dogs that claim to have pure beef have two more meats included
• Hygiene issues in the preparation of hot dogs have been raised especially after discovering human DNA in most vegetarian sausages
• Most hot dogs that have "other added nutrients" were not detected during the testing

The start-up lab company used genomic technology to help test and analyze the iconic food at a molecular level, dissecting every bit of ingredients present, CBS News reports. Over 20 billion hot dogs are eaten on a yearly basis in the US alone, spending about an average of $2.5 billion for the tasty treat.

Clear Food states that despite the obvious issues, there are still a few retailers that make hot dogs with integrity, such as Trader Joe's Chorizo which got the highest rating for being the best choice for vegetarians and Whole Foods for it's 365 brand for meat hot dogs.