Hot dogs, having caught the attention of two doctors, got a post-postmortem of sorts, in this new study:
“What’s in Your Hot Dog? A Histological Comparative Analysis,” Tyler Rouse, Jordan Radigan, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 205, no. 11, 2016, pp. 519-520. The authors report:
The contents of hot dogs (also known as street meat, tube steaks, frankfurters, wieners, etc) have been a source of speculation in popular culture…. The oral mucosa from the vermillion border and anuses of large mammalian domesticated animals has been postulated….
Specimens were procured both from vendors in a public location and from a commercial supermarket…. Sections from all specimens showed similar histological composition. [The] majority of the cross-sections of hot dogs consisted of fat globules. There was a wide but consistent range of tissues present, including but not limited to: bone, cartilage, blood vessels, skeletal muscle and… fragments of vegetable matter…. However, no squamous mucosa was identified.
Here’s further detail — an image from the study:
BONUS: The incoming Secretary of Energy for the USA, the government official in charge of overseeing the nation’s nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons research, is reported to have a background in meat:
