Hot Dog! A Fun Fourth of July Fact On Frankfurters

When you think of the Fourth of July, you think of fun parties with friends and family, fireworks, and (of course) hot dogs. It should then come as no surprise that July has been designated as National Hot Dog Month.

In fact, the Fourth is the biggest hot dog holiday of the year. So just how many hot dogs will people chow down on this Friday? According to Fact Monster, Americans will be eating a lot of cased meat:

The (National Hot Dog and Sausage) Council estimates that over seven billion hot dogs will be eaten by Americans between Memorial Day and Labor Day. During the July 4th weekend alone (the biggest hot-dog holiday of the year), 155 million will be downed.

Every year, Americans eat an average of 60 hot dogs each.

So as you try to hit your annual quota of frankfurters this weekend, you may wonder, “What’s in my hot dog?” The answer is not as bad as you may think:

For the record, the Council refers to the actual meat as “specially selected meat trimmings.” They would like to point out, however, that thanks to stricter U.S. Department of Agriculture rules, hot-dog meat has become much leaner and, unless otherwise indicated, must be made from muscle (as most meat found in supermarkets is).

Most supermarket hot dogs use cellulose casings, which are removed before packaging. Some, however, still use the traditional natural casings, made from animal intestines.

By law, a hot dog can contain up to 3.5 percent of “non-meat ingredients.” Don’t be scared. This is usually just some type of milk or soy product used to add to the nutritional value. Many hot dogs may be relatively high in fat and sodium, but they are also a good source of protein, iron, and other necessary vitamins.