Hot-Diggity Dog!

If you wouldn't sit down to dinner and eat this furry little friend, then why, oh why, would you sit down at to a lovely sports game and scarf 2-4 non-puppy hot dogs? Please, don't eat dogs. Also, do not eat pigs, turkeys, cows or chickens either! Do you have any idea what you are actually eating when you put that rolled up meat stick into your mouth? I'm not judging or blaming (too much anyway) since I used to be there with you. I used to love my juicy hot dog at a Brewer's game smothered in deliciously spicy stadium sauce, onions, ketchup and mustard. However, I have changed my ways and seen the light!

Standard ingredients in your hot nasty meat stick:

• Turkey, beef, pork, chicken or a combo of all - animal hater!
  
• Egg products - most definitely not from cage free chickens!
  
• Semi-solid products from raw skeletal muscle from livestock or poultry - oh yum!
  
• No more than 15% of byproducts such as hearts, kidneys, livers - 1% would be a lot, but 15%! Now that's just NASTY!
  
• Most likely bones, crushed, mashed and pulverized - for what? a little crunch?
• Cereal fillers - just to help keep it all together and give it texture?
  
• Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) - mmmm... sounds so natural!
  
• Array of seasonings - does this include fecal matter for spice?
  

I haven't even mentioned the amount of fat (mostly saturated) you are digesting as you down dog after dog. You are consuming anywhere from 10-20 grams of pure fat per fat link! That's more than 20% of your daily value. I have to say, at any given Wisconsin sports game, I don't notice many people who stop after one hot dog. Stop hating your arteries and all internal organs! They want to work for you! Not against you! Though the hot dog may appear appetizing and lovely in a nicely rolled link covered in casing which is then removed for your dining satisfaction, think about what it would look like if it weren't processed over and over and over again! Imagine the hearts, kidneys and livers, of god knows what, sitting there in a bun. Think about the poor little piggy who became your lunch! If you truly cannot resist the temptation of a link on a bun, please try to fool your children, boyfriends, girlfriends, family and friends and serve Smart Dogs. Add your favorite hot dog toppings and you will be doing your heart a huge favor! You may end up enjoying it more than your regular meat stick! Plus, this way you don't have to worry about ingesting the leftover parts of slaughtered animals.

'Links' for Light Reading

The Onion: Hot Dogs Fail To Ruin Picnic

USDA Hot Dogs and Food Safety

Hopkins: Hot Dogs

Journal of Nutrition: Hot Dogs