A new study has just revealed that hot dogs might, if research is to be believed, have a little human DNA in it. The study comes from Clear Labsa food analytics startup based in Menlo Park, CA which used "genomic technology" to investigate hot dogs on a molecular level. Remember the first time a friend told you the horrible truth about hot dogs; that theyre actually made from lips and hooves and pigs anus? "DNA is not a food safety hazard," says Jonathan A. Campbell, Ph.D., a Meat Specialist and Assistant Professor at Penn State University. As for specialty picks, the study suggested Taverrite's pork sausages and vegetarian option Gardien. It also found human DNA in 2 percent of its hot dog samples and two-thirds of the vegetarian samples. Initial attempts by USA TODAY Network to. For most of us growing up, it was one of those irresistible rumorslike how some rock songs have satanic messages if you play them backwardsthat arent true but were endlessly fun to repeat. If you're a hot dog lover, you may have beef with a study that finds certain varieties of hot dogs contain human DNA. Unless you also want to give up eating fruits and vegetables. originally ran on MensHealth.com. In effect, almost all U.S. hot dogs are made with just meat.. Hygienic issues occur when some sort of non-harmful contaminant is introduced to the hot dog, in most cases, human DNA, said Clear Food in theirstudy. "Any organs or edible by-products must be explicitly labeled in the ingredient line and the product name must have a qualifier 'made with variety meats'. .css-1pm21f6{display:block;font-family:AvantGarde,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-1pm21f6:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1pm21f6{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1pm21f6{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1pm21f6{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3;}}The Absolute Best Crackers for Healthy Snacking, 18 Healthy Snacks That Actually Keep You Full, 15 Surprising Health Benefits of Chia Seeds, Tasty High-Protein Snacks to Keep You Fueled, The 15 Best Protein Powders for Smoothie Making, The Healthiest Fast Food Menu Items at Chains, 37 Calcium-Rich Foods That Aren't a Glass of Milk. It's sometimes referred to as the queen of greens because its nutritional value is just about unmatched. The stuffers pump the emulsified hot dog mixture into casings. It sounds horrifying. Major brands including Butterball, Boar's Head, Hebrew National, Oscar Meyer, Jennie O and Trader Joe's all received high marks. The first human DNA gleaned from cave dirt came from Denisova Cave in Siberia in 2017. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. What makes us human? How did actual human DNA end up in hotdogs? It did not . Substitution occurs when ingredients are added that do not show up on the label. According to "The Hot Dog Report" put out by Clea. "In most cases, a lot of humans are employed in the meat industry, and their DNA is throughout the building. Is that even possible? Even more disturbing, 66 percent of those cases were found in vegetarian-labeled products. But hey, customers hardly ever taste the flakes.". Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Woot! Overall, 14.4 percent of the hot dogs and sausages tested by Clear Foods were problematic, the company said. Vitamin Status. Scientists may have tracked down the small percentage of DNA that might give modern humans the qualities unique to the species. In other words, yes, your hot dogs are going to have a little human DNA on them. First of all, let's all take a deep breath. It's not like somebody found a pinkie in a Hebrew National. Altogether, 75 different hot dog brands from 10 different retailers were studied. The answer may be found in overlooked DNA Date: October 8, 2021 Source: Lund University Summary: Our DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in. Remember the last time you were in the produce section of a grocery store? Credit: Marek Janta. Are Farmers Being Manipulated Into Buying GMO Soybean Seeds? You May Also Like 13 Signs You Need to See a Dermatologist Overall, 14.4 percent of the hot dogs and sausages tested by Clear Foods "were problematic," the company said. Part of HuffPost News. Check out the full report for more information about the brands in the US that did well on the test. So, sorry, there aren't any pig anuses in hot dogs. Two-thirds of that human DNA was found in vegetarian hot dogs, according to the study. All that really means is that Clear uses genetic sequencing to figure out just whats in your lunch. A food with a substitution issue has an unexpected ingredient that is not listed on the label. And here's another quandary worth considering. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. In light of the news that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially listed processed meats such as bacon and sausages as cancer-causing, this is probably the least of your worries if you're an avid hot dog lover. Yes, human DNA! Human DNA Found in a Small Sample of Hot Dogs and Sausages by Julie Fidler Posted on October 28, 2015 Updated on October 24, 2021 General Health The next time you squeeze some ketchup onto a ballpark frank at a baseball game, you should know you could be eating porkor you could be eating someone's eyebrows or spit. Two-thirdsof the human DNA samples were vegetarian, according to Clear Food. The lab analyzes a product's label and how closely that matches its actual molecular contents, as well as nutrition-content accuracy, such as carbs, fat, calories and protein. Clear Food analyzed 345 hot dogs and sausages from 75 different brands sold at 10retailers and found that 14% had hygienic or substitution issues, according to thereport. What they found was that 14.4 percent of the items tested were problematic in some way, either as a result of contamination - which means that a non-harmful contaminant was found, most often human DNA - or substitution, which is where another food ingredient that's not on the label has been added. 9 Surprising Foods Packed With Vitamin C. Biden was treated for basal cell carcinoma. BDO gives you access to innovative new approaches to the health information you need in everyday language so you can break through the disparities, gain control and live your life to its fullest. Or lips. Human DNA was found in 2 percent of the samples, which doesn't mean that there were traces of human meat in the sausages, but simply that there was some kind of contamination, so that could be through a stray hair or skin cells, or potentially even saliva. Is It Safe to Use Expired Protein Powder? It sometimes seems like it exists not because people enjoy the taste of a frankfurter, but because we just love speculating about all the secret and super-gross "ingredients.". And most of our top guys have seriously dry skin. A new study has just revealed that hot dogs might, if research is to be believed, have a little human DNA in it. The human DNA found in the dogs is largely the result of hair and broken fingernails. To be clear, the presence of human DNA does not mean there is human flesh in the hot dogs. Hot dog sausages contain human DNA, study says, and many vegetarian ones contain meat Another problem is that 4.3 per cent of burgers contained pathogenic DNA, which can cause food. Overall, 14.4 percent of the hot dogs and sausages tested by Clear Foods "were. But the ingredients of hot dogs arent nearly as ominous as were often led to believe. In products not supposed to contain them, 10 contained tracesof chicken meat, 9 pork, 4 beef, 3 turkey and 2 lamb. Did you buy every apple or orange or potato or avocado that you groped or squeezed to make sure it was fresh? The study, conducted by food analytics lab Clear Food, analyzed 345 different hot dogs and sausages, including vegetarian versions. DNA is not a food safety hazard, says Jonathan A. Campbell, Ph.D., a Meat Specialist and Assistant Professor at Penn State University. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Eric Spitznagel is a frequent contributor to magazines like Playboy, Esquire, and the New York Times, and was employed for over two decades by the Second City comedy theater, where Stephen Colbert was his Secret Santa _twice. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. "The U.S. does not allow blood," he says. Hot dogs haven't received much love lately. However, Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, said Clear Food "has said very little about its sample collection procedure. Concession stand worker Janice Towns checks on the hot dogs she is making July 23, 2013, on National Hot Dog Day at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Well, it is true that human DNA was found in about 2 percent of hot dogs that were analyzed in one study, TruthOrFiction.com reported. The study also concludes that 10 percent of veggie dog brands tested contained meat. Hot dogs, bacon, processed meats linked to cancer. Department Illegally Seizes Privately Owned Bees Resistant to GMO Poison, Breakdown of GMO Labeling Laws in Each Country (Global Map), What Theyre Not Telling You About Monsantos Role in Ukraine, Toxic Weedkiller Dicamba Drift Damages Crops Across America. Andrew L. Milkowski, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, says hes suspicious about the quality of (Clear Labs) information., After reviewing the companys website and research, Milkowski claims that while the founders have a molecular genetics background, as far as I can tell they do not have any expertise or scientific training around food or agriculture. And they provide limited information on their methodology. THE Organic Non-GMO Cookbook & Shopping Guide (E-Book). Related: .css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}5 Gross Guy Habits That Are Good for You, The study comes from Clear Labsa food analytics startup based in Menlo Park, CA which used genomic technology to investigate hot dogs on a molecular level. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Two-thirds of that human DNA was found in vegetarian hot dogs. Clear Foods, which "uses genomic technology to analyze the world's foods at a molecular level, ingredient by ingredient," released a report recently that it said was designed to look at the accuracy of the content labels of several major hot dog brands. It's a theory echoed by Gregg Rentfrow, Ph.D., a professor in Animal and Food Science at the University of Kentucky. I would imagine if you used the same technology to discover what was on cereal boxes in the grocery store aisle, you might no longer trust what is in other food products as well, Campbell says. Occasionally human workers are involved in the process, but theyre wearing so much protective gear youd think they were handling plutonium. about When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip: Healthy Dips For Super Bowl Weekend, about Move Over Oranges! Some, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us again! They also discovered human DNA in two percent of the samples. Pork was found in 3% of samples, mostly in products advertised as chicken- or turkey-only, a discovery that is likely very disturbing to those who avoid pork due to religious reasons. For example, 10% of all vegetarian samples contained meat; chicken was found in a vegetarian breakfast sausage and pork was found in a vegetarian hot dog. This $50 Meal Prep Plan Will Help You Build Muscle, 10 Food Subscription Boxes Worth Ordering, Theres Nothing Special About Gut Health Diets. It did not . Hot Dogs and Processed Meats as Bad as Cigarettes? Probably not, right? The lab does not release the names of poor-performing products it analyzes. Clear Food, an independent company that analyzes food at the molecular level, found that 14.4 percent of the hot dogs it tested were "problematic.". A spokesperson for Clear Food said that human DNA "degrades the quality of food" but is less of a public health concern. Clear Food does not release the names of the poor-performing products. Did you buy every apple or orange or potato or avocado that you groped or squeezed to make sure it was fresh? Maybe youve seen The Water Challenge floating around on social media. "It is unlikely that human DNA is harmful to consumer health. Researchers found issues with 14.4 percent of analyzed samples. Skin is not allowed as it has no muscle tissue and thus does not qualify as a muscle trimming. Altogether, 75 different hot dog brands from 10 different retailers were studied. The DNA found in the samples likely came from "hair, skin, finger nail or saliva that was accidentally mixed in during the manufacturing process," according to Clear Food. Well, as you hopefully already knew, hot dogs aren't something you should be eating at every meal. And, yep, 10 percent of them contained meat. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly listed the Taverrite's brand as vegetarian. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans spent $2.4 billion last year on hot dogs and another $2.74 billion on sausages. Vegetarian hot dog products surprisingly fared the worst in this regard, with four out of the 21 products tested containing human DNA. Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich and Hebrew National received the top scores for quality hot dogs among major brands. Men's Health Review: Dymatize Protein Powder, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Nobody knows what's in a hot dog. But hey, customers hardly ever taste the flakes.. What percentage of grocery store fruits and vegetables have a little human DNA on them? The researchers found human DNA in two percent of samples, and 2/3 of those products containing human DNA were vegetarian products. The company found hygiene issues in four of its 21 vegetarian samples. October 25, 2015 / 10:20 AM It also found human DNA in 2 percent of its hot dog samples and two-thirds of the vegetarian samples. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, a trade group that represents hog dog and sausage manufacturers, called the report a "publicity stunt. Around 3% of hot dogs and sausages analyzed contained pork where it wasn't listed, ten percent of vegetarian dogs included animal DNA, and most shocking of all 2% of samples contained. NR is a form of vitamin B3. Heres another analysis that will either put everything in perspective or send you into a spiral of food paranoia. DNA from 7,300-year-old skeleton Bess' found in Sulawesi cave uncovers mysterious human lineage ABC Science / By science reporter Belinda Smith Posted Wed 25 Aug 2021 at 12:00pm, updated Wed 25 Aug 2021 at 2:02pm The cave in which this skeleton was found was earmarked for development as a water park. Regionally, the top 3 specialty and regional hot dog brands were Gardein, Taverrites and Field to Family Natural Foods. Who are Really the Top Shareholders of Monsanto? "Theres the old saying, 'You dont want to know how the sausage get made.' The study, conducted by food analytics lab Clear Food, analyzed 345 different hot dogs and sausages, including vegetarian versions. / CBS News. But a word of warning - the scientists only looked at one sample of each product, so it's hard to get a clear picture from that limited information about the overall safety and accuracy of an entire product line or brand. Beef, chicken, pork, and lamb were all found as unlisted ingredients. Overall, 14.4 percent of the hot dogs and sausages were listed as "problematic" because of substituted or unexpected ingredients or hygienic issues, the media reports stated. A new report, however, adds extra meaning to the phrase "you don't want to know how the sausage gets made.". The next time you squeeze some ketchup onto a ballpark frank at a baseball game, you should know you could be eating porkor you could be eating someones eyebrows or spit. In response to The Hot Dog Report's findings, Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council stated that Clear Food "has said very little about its sample collection procedure . Like Davey Griffin, Ph.D., a professor and meat specialist at the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M; University. Plant personnel wear clean clothes and gloves, they have sanitary working equipment, and the USDA regularly inspects to ensure that products are made cleanly and safely for consumers..