Food - Drink
The Simple Ingredient That Makes Up About Half Of All Hot Dogs
By CHRIS SANDS
The organic meat producer Applegate surveyed over 1000 people, and the results were fascinating: 43% of respondents said they were afraid to find out what was in their hot dogs. When it comes to hot dogs, there is actually not much to be terrified of.
It turns out that one of the primary ingredients is water. Water makes up 57 percent of the average weight of hot dogs, according to the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology; Britannica cites a similar figure, stating that the nutritional breakdown for hot dogs is 55 percent water, with lipids and proteins comprising 40 to 45 percent.
In most hot dog brands, meat is listed as the first ingredient and water as the second, with the former referring to meat that has been removed from prime cuts of beef, pork, or chicken. This meat is then finely ground before being stuffed into casings, which is usually made from animal intestines or animal-sourced collagens .