Health Harms Of Hot Dog Sausages

Certain ingredients in hot dog sausages and sausages can increase the risk of cancer – this information has been verified by several recent studies. Hot dog sausages, and in particular the health effects of the nitrite they contain, are particularly harmful to children, as they are precisely the delicacy favored by children.

Hot dog sausages and connections to diseases

One study that looked at the association of hot dog sausages and other similar processed meat products with leukemia included an analysis of children’s diets up to 10 years of age.

Those children who ate more than 12 such sausages a month were nine times more likely to be victims of this blood-borne disease.

In addition, the study found that  children whose mothers ate at least 12 sausages a month during pregnancy were also at higher risk of developing the disease.

Another study has been conducted on the subject in Denver, USA. In it, I found that children whose mothers had eaten hot dog sausages at least once a week during their pregnancies were at double risk of developing a brain tumor.

This risk was almost the same as for those who themselves ate the food in question on a regular basis.

Why can hot dog sausages cause cancer?

One of the biggest problems with this child-favored food product is that hot dog sausages contain nitrites that are added in the form of preservatives. The goal of using nitrites is to prevent food poisoning in canned food eaters.

When sausages are made, nitrites combine with the natural ingredients found in meat, resulting in a carcinogenic compound called N-nitroso.

Nitrites are also believed to react in the human stomach and form these same substances, contributing to the development of cancers of the bladder, brain, stomach, kidneys, esophagus, and oral cavity.

All canned meats contain nitrites, so this risk is not limited to hot dogs, but is also associated with burgers and bacon, among other things.

However, it is true that not all hot dog sausages on the market contain nitrites. In fact, this can often be easily figured out, as the color of the food can tell if the meat is full of these harmful substances.

If the color is bright red (i.e., one that is typically considered the color of fresh meat), it is probably because a lot of preservatives have been used in the preparation. Sausages, on the other hand, which do not contain nitrites are light brown in color or surface.

However, don’t fall into the trap of the manufacturers here, as some sausage products have the ingredients combined so that they don’t seem to contain as many nitrites as they actually do.

If you want to avoid the risks of such meat to your health, it would be very important to start eating home-made or naturally made sausages instead of industrial products.

You can find these, for example, directly from farms, sales outlets or well-stocked butchers. Industrial hot dog sausages, on the other hand, are the ones you see in supermarkets and are sold in sealed packages.

If you don’t want to give up hodars, it would be advisable to at least reduce your intake of industrial sausages to 12 pieces a month, and this doesn’t depend on which store you buy your product from.

Of course, you can ask your local store where the sausages and meats you usually buy, what the products contain and whether it is possible to find a sausage that has not used nitrite. You can also find out about sausages served at your child’s school.

It is true that certain vegetables also contain nitrites, and these are especially products that are green in color (i.e., lettuce, celery, and spinach, for example). However, eating these vegetables is not harmful to cancer, they reduce the risk of cancer.

This is possibly due to the fact that no N-nitroso compounds are formed in vegetables, even when cooked. The nitrites found in vegetables are actually useful because they contain vitamins C and D, which help fight the formation of N-nitroso compounds.

Thus, green vegetables are not a risk to your health, quite the contrary.

How are hot dog sausages made?

If sausages are your favorite food, or if you are only interested in the manufacturing process of this product, keep reading! And if the results of the nitrite study didn’t yet convince you of the health risks of sausages, the following information may change that.

Namely, we will tell you how to make these products, and then you can decide if you want any more industrial versions of hot dog sausages.

Hodars, as we have already said, are a favorite food of children. They are one of the best-selling food products in the world and have been on the market for a very long time.

However, hot dog sausages have their own secrets that you should be aware of. However, here we are only referring to industrially made sausages, not homemade or the like, so the health risks are only related to the alternatives available in the Market.

Each of these ingredients has been analyzed by doctors, nutritionists, scientists and researchers. Sausages used in hot dogs are known by different names in different countries, such as “salchichas”, “sausages”, “Panchos”, “frankfurters” and “Viennese”.

There are about 35 different types of hot dog sausages, but in this context we refer to the traditional “Viennese sausages”. Each type has its own aroma, composition, taste and, above all, a combination of ingredients.

The ingredients and manufacturing methods used in most of these processed sausages and sausages are described below. As you will notice, meat is far from natural.

Mechanically separated meat fraction

The meat contained in hot dog sausages actually comes from birds and comes from different types of birds, especially chickens and turkeys. The bird’s feathers are plucked, and the bird is then placed in a mechanical system that separates the bones from the meat.

This can also be done for cows and pigs, but it is more difficult. Microscopic analysis revealed that hodar sausage contains a large number of different tissues and crushed bones, as well as nerves, cartilage, blood vessels, skin and similar parts.

Spices and water

The other main ingredient in these meat products is water. Food regulations stipulate that at least 10% of each unit must be water. Despite this, the amount of water has been found to be as high as 50% for certain brands. At this point, many may make the assumption that water is beneficial to health, but water itself is not a problem for sausages.

Namely, it mixes with artificial spices that depend on the regulations of different countries. These spices are chemical ingredients, essences or spices to make the sausage taste stronger or to have some special flavor.

Salt and corn syrup

These two ingredients are widely used in all fast food. The purpose of corn syrup is to increase the consistency of the food, improve its composition and increase the sweetness so that the meat tastes more like a homemade or traditional sausage.

In addition, the salt uses salt (sodium chloride), which is needed in the preparation, but is often put in very large quantities. For example, one hodar sausage contains almost 500 mg of salt, which corresponds to 20% of a person’s recommended daily allowance.

Sodium phosphates are a mixture of sodium salts and phosphoric acid and act as an additive. In this case, they act by acting on the proteins, making them “useless”, and in addition, they bring more juiciness to the meat as well as prevent the loss of moisture.

Potassium lactate, in turn, is a type of salt that is added to regulate acidity and acts as an antioxidant. It is used in meat as a preservative because it has antimicrobial properties – in other words, it destroys harmful bacteria.

So now you know that processed sausages and sausages are far from natural food. It would be important for your children and your own health to switch to traditional alternatives, so you should switch to a good butcher shop instead of a supermarket.

Hot dog sausages in Finland

In many countries and in many languages, any sausage and sausage is called a “hot dog,” as it is most commonly eaten between hot dog rolls.

In Finland, sausages and sausages are eaten without rolls and can be found in different sizes, so even if the Finnish package does not read “hot dog” or “Viennese sausage”, read the product description carefully.