All of the major news outlets are pushing the story of WHO’s announcement that processed meats cause cancer.
So maybe we should all switch to vegetarian hot dogs, right?
Wait, what? I thought they were made from soy and lentils.
But seriously, we need a heck of a lot more information, here. Can anyone else confirm this report? Are the results actually valid? And if they are, what’s the nature of the contaminations, and at what level?
I’m a little skeptical. My first thought was that the human DNA was simply from handing. But if that’s true, why is there so much more in the vegetarian products? Are they handled more?
Here’s the source of the report.
http://www.clearfood.com/food_reports/2015/the_hotdog_report
I know nothing about “Clear Food”. I wonder how competent the analyses are.
When you click through to the source report:
So, taking the report at face value, of the 345 hot dogs, 2% (~7) had human DNA. Two thirds of those (~4) were vegetarian products.
It does not say that 2/3 of all veggie dogs sampled contained human DNA.
It’s ambiguous.
It doesn’t say 2/3 of the 2% were vegetarian. It says it was found in 2/3 of the vegetarian samples, which sounds like it means 2/3 of all vegetarian samples. Maybe only a very small percentage of the products were vegetarian, such that 2/3 of them are less then 2% of the total products tested.
It may be that there was such a small number of vegetarian samples tested that the number isn’t statistically relevant.
Oh wait. You’re quoting from the original report, which does in fact indicate that 2/3 of the 2% were vegetarian. You’re right. USA Today screwed it up in their article. I should have read the original report before posting.
I am soooo NOT a scientist. But it looked like their testing methodology was a little opaque. From their site:
Again, not a scientist, but is using a proprietary testing methodology the way it’s usually done? Don’t scientists usually fully disclose their methods so their results can be verified?
I am 100% sure there is contamination in hot dogs, as well as lots of other food. I am fully willing to believe that some products tested contain human DNA and that some vegetarian products contain meat. I am, however, a bit skeptical of these guys’ work.
The original report also says:
I too am skeptical.
Soy and Lentil hotdogs are made out of people! They’re made out of people! Soy… lent… made… peopleeeee…
Enjoy,
Steven
But do they contain more human flesh than the 4% allowable by the FDA?
::applause::
Translation: we’re a startup with a very slightly tweaked method for doing DNA sequencing. How can we get a lot of free press very very quickly?
Wait…I bet hot dog factory workers occasionally shed hair and skin…
I bet that DNA sequencing workers also shed hair and skin…
soy and lentils.
soy and lentils.
soy lentils.
soylentils.
SOYLENT YELLOW IS MADE OF VEGETARIANS!
I am not surprised. The next steps are experiments to figure out whether hotdogs are sentient and if they are truly human or rather human/legume/pig/beef/dog/cat/chicken hybrids. Only then can we begin to figure out how they should be classified legally. Things could get tricky if they are granted full human rights.
I had one that in my refrigerator named George that I was really fond of until I got really ravenous in the middle of the night and ate him in a fit of insanity. It is troublesome to think I could be labeled a cannibal or murderer if these studies continue.
Maybe that’s the proprietary part?
I feel that any scientist who’s cracked the mystery of what kind of meat is in a hot dog deserves a Nobel Prize.
I laughed.
Well, if you go to the “about us” section of the website…uh…there isn’t one. But it’s backed by ClearLabs. If you go to the “about” link at Clearlabs…uh…it’s got employee bios. No mission statement or ownership details. I wonder about astroturfing.
OMG, I’m a cannibal.