Hot dogs have a pretty grisly – and gristly – back story. The favorite food of ballparks, eating contests, and highway convenience stops isn’t exactly known for its nutritional value, but seeing the manufacturing process is enough to put you off for life.
It starts with the leftover cuts from beef steaks and pork chops mixed with an amorphous gloop of processed chicken trimmings. Then comes the salt, food starch, corn syrup, water, and other seasonings such as mustard, to give the variety of meats some flavor.
Check out the video below, from Business Insider, which details some of the grueling mechanical processes of a hot dog manufacturing plant. The clip is an excerpt from the TV show "How It’s Made," which you can watch on the Science Channel.
