Report: Human DNA in Hot Dogs, Meat in Veggie Dogs

Budding food analysis website ClearFood.com claims that your hot dog may contain human DNA, and that not all veggie dogs are meat free.

Menlo Park, California-based Clear Food analyzes food on the “molecular level” and claims that testing in its first official report reveals that 2 per cent of samples tested showed evidence of human DNA. 345 hot dogs and sausages were analyzed in the report. Of those, 14.4 per cent were said to be “problematic.”

The new food researcher is listed in a kickstarter campaign that counted 207 backers, $74,413 dollars in donation pledges and 25 days left to meet its $100k goal as of Monday afternoon. The kickstarter campaign denotes the hot dog report as the group’s first, calling the product the “ultimate mystery meat.”

A few brands were singled out in study results as superior, according to Fox 25 Boston. Those brands noted were Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich, Hebrew National, Gardein, and a special mention for Oscar Mayer’s Premium Jumbo Beef Franks.

Three “top retailers” were singled out as well: Target, Walmart and Safeway.

Vegetarians were warned that study results showed 4 of the 21 vegetarian samples had “hygienic issues” and 10 per cent contained meat. Those found containing meat included “chicken in a vegetarian breakfast sausage and pork in a vegetarian hot dog.” Additionally, two-thirds of the human DNA discoveries were uncovered in the vegetarian products.

The study also noted pork as a substitute for other meats. “We found pork substitution in 3% of the samples. In most cases pork was substituted for chicken or turkey. We found that this issue occured in products of all price ranges.” If abstaining from pork is important, Clear Food recommends a kosher brand, such as Hebrew National.

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