
The Hot Dog Report - aaronbrethorst
http://www.clearfood.com/food_reports/2015/the_hotdog_report
======
marricks
If I wanted to smear veg options this is how I'd do it. Kickstart a small
independent lab for transparency and health of food, run all sorts of food and
pin select veg ones as being especially low quality and even having meat.
Don't be clear on tests or results, don't be clear on process.

This is the sort of thing news loves to pick up, and before your pressured for
full details it's already gone twice around the world. Do a full clarification
later on how there was human containment and the only veg brands that failed
were cause they weren't processed in vegan facilities, so it's expected. You
come out looking honest, and it's just the media failing to wait for the full
info!

Test other brands and items, do the same process.

~~~
nommm-nommm
Thank you.

I can assume some food processing plants that do tofu dogs also are big enough
to do regular dogs or other products. Which means you can expect a few
molecules of "cross contamination" even with proper washing procedure like
with peanuts. As a vegetarian this doesn't bother me in the least, its to be
expected. Nobody can avoid microscopic consumption of non-vegetarian items.
It's the same with those microscopic shrimp in the water in NYC. Probably the
same for the food I cook at home because I cook meat for my spouse in the same
bowls/pans.

Now if they were to say, 5% chicken, that's an issue.

Wanted to chime in as a vegetarian.

[That being said there WAS issues years ago of non-vegetarian gelatin being
labeled as vegetarian. There was no possible way that was a mistake, it was
straight up gelatin.]

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yggydrasily
The report doesn't really say how this happens or what it means exactly. Does
this result from say, people's fingers getting cut by the processing machines
and little bits of flesh going in, or is it human waste ending up in the mix
somehow?

~~~
Amorymeltzer
Of interest:

>2/3 of the human DNA samples were [in] vegetarian products. >10% of
Vegetarian products contained meat.

Sounds to me like the meat hotdogs are the better ones.

~~~
mfoy_
Soylent Green?

~~~
jksmith
Squeeze hot dog juice into 23andMe test tube.

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refurb
It would have been awesome if they had quantified the results somehow. It
makes a big difference if the human DNA suggested 5% of the food was of a
human origin or 0.000001%.

This reminds me of the article about heavy metals in our drinking water.
Analytical chemistry has made massive strides in our ability to detect
different chemicals. Common laboratory machines can detect heavy metals down
to the ppt (part per trillion). That's approximately 1 microgram in a liter of
water. At those levels, who cares?

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bcook
If the contamination levels are above the legal limits, please report them.
Otherwise, this article seems more politically motivated rather than a focus
on public health.

We are all cannibals and coprophages, so what?

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readams
Alternately: 2% of tests done by an advocacy organization are tainted by human
DNA.

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buckbova
I'm glad they didn't test Nathan's. I prefer to be blissfully ignorant.

~~~
wehadfun
Thats the problem they they may have tested Nathan but it scored low so they
did not print it.

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chejazi
In addition to intake during consumption, I wonder how much "human" we intake
during respiration, with all the dust in the air.

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Laaw
So? Is this human DNA that can be found in hot dogs harmful to me in the
quantities it's found in?

~~~
imjk
Is it OK to you that there's human DNA in the hotdogs as long as they're not
harmful to you?

~~~
sp332
Why else would it bother me? I mean if people were being killed to make the
hotdogs... but otherwise?

~~~
ars
There are body parts that can be harvested from people, but regrow. (Liver and
Blood for example.)

You'd be OK eating those? I wouldn't, I'd be grossed out.

Or is it just when it tiny minimal quantities? Which honestly everyone eats
sometimes.

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dwd
The point is: what is on the label doesn't match the detected ingredients and
there are some "hygiene" issues. The hope would be that at the end of this
manufacturers will hold themselves and suppliers to a higher standard.

Looking forward to when bread products are analysed in all their varieties.

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5ilv3r
You expect me to believe that Butterball sold at walmart is the highest
quality? Who paid for this site? I did some googling on the CEO's name and the
whois owner but couldn't find much.

~~~
scott_karana
"Quality" in that case meant, "their ingredient claims matched reality, and
they had no adulterations".

~~~
5ilv3r
Top 10 Major Hot Dog Brands [[Butterball logo]] 1. Butterball

Are we looking at the same thing?

~~~
scott_karana
This is what I'm looking at:

> Our scientific disclosure allows you, as the consumer, to decide whether the
> variance or problems meet your personal standard in your buying decision.

> The Clear List is a comprehensive list of high-quality, safe, and accurate
> products. This list only includes products with a Clear Score of 95 or
> above. _A score of 95 or above means that there were no hygienic issues, and
> no substitutions found in our molecular tests. There could be slight
> discrepancies in the observed nutritional information vs. the nutritional
> content on the label, but nothing that could be harmful or intentionally
> mislabeled._

I see nothing on the page that quantifies taste or other aesthetic qualities,
which is how you seem to have interpreted the test?

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ChuckMcM
Wow, hotdogs just can't catch a break. I wonder if they tested Hebrew National
hot dogs. There is a reason "Inside the Sausage Factory" is a thing.

~~~
nommm-nommm
Did you RTFA?

Hebrew National was rated 4th least contaminated with a score of 96 (out of
100).

~~~
dang
> _Did you RTFA?_

Please don't do this here. The sibling commenters have all provided nice
examples of how to reply respectfully.

From the site guidelines: _Please don 't insinuate that someone hasn't read an
article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to
"The article mentions that."_

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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tragomaskhalos
I like those odds.

