Wait What?! 10% of veggie hot dogs contain meat?

The basis of this blog is to simply share one word. YUK! YUK is the word, and I’m not particularly certain that YUK is an actual word, but right now, it is the only word I can use to describe the recent reports about red meat, hot dogs, bacon, etc.

Sadly, NONE of this information is surprising. My close friends know that I talk about clean eating, non-GMO foods, processed meats and Kombucha (which they call kukamunga) all the time. However the recent CNN article titled, “10% of Vegetarian Hot Dogs Contain Meat” had me a little bothered. Basically, there was a recent study done by a company called Clear Labs, where they analyzed specific foods. Here are some of the findings, get ready to be grossed out:
–10% of veggie hot dogs contain meat
4 of its 21 vegetarian samples had “hygiene issues”

–2% of their hot dog samples had human DNA
2/3 of its veggie samples had human DNA
14.4% of the hot dogs and sausages tested were “problematic”

–They found nutritional label inaccuracies, pork substitutes, unexpected ingredients including chicken & lamb

–THESE BRANDS HAD THE HIGHEST RATING STANDARDS: Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich & Hebrew National, with scores of 96 out of 100

According to CNN’s interview with Martin Wiedmann, a Cornell University professor, he said this study tell us nothing new about hot dogs, he feels like its creative marketing in order for Clear Labs to sell their services.

Another professor, per CNN’s investigation stated the report was “intriguing”. Melinda Wilkins, professor at Michigan State University stated, “the use of genetic analysis in this type of setting is fascinating…we are going to see more of this type of analysis seeing how well food content matches food labels.”

So here’s my take on this news. YUK! I’m one of the “those people”, very concerned about what’s in the foods and have backed away from processed meats for some time now. I don’t think it’s healthy to eat meat every day, backed away from red meats and processed meats quite a bit, but now this is simply going to send me into a new stage of paranoia! OK, paranoia is bit much, but I do believe that our food choices are killing us, and this news story is a great wake up call to what most of us already know. Although that $5.99 meatloaf and mash potatoes from Cracker Barrell sure sounds good, think I’ll pass and just have a green juice. Yay.