The fast food industry has a reputation for producing poor quality, over processed food that causes obesity and raises cholesterol levels. High street establishments such as Maccy D's and Colonel Sanders have even been taken to court over allegations of the ill effects the food can have on a person's health. This has resulted in the introduction of healthier menus, which have in turn become the focus of health concerns in the industry. Certain salads are said to contain more calories than the same company's burger; another company's sandwich contains the same amount of salt that is found in nine packets of crisps.



The problem with the introduction of a healthy option menu is that it doesn't address the issue at hand; highly processed food causes health problems. There is no denying that a homemade sandwich, burger or bucket of breaded chicken is of infinitely better quality than their fast food counterparts. By using ingredients that have not been processed to keep them preserved until pigs learn to fly, these foods can be tasty and nutritious. One fast food that appears to have got away quite lightly from the wrath of health food fundamentalists is the hot dog vendor.

We can attribute this to the ingredients involved in the making being of a relatively un-tampered nature. Basically a bit of meat in some bread, a hot dog is often a sausage made of pork, beef, chicken or any combinations thereof, mixed with seasoning into a paste then put in a casing for cooking. Occasionally rusk or oats will be added to bulk the mixture out, but usually it is a pure meat product. This is then cooked and stored in brine to preserve the product. The roll that lovingly encases the meat can be either a baguette or a long soft white roll. Sometimes there is an accompaniment of mustard and onions, and to the disappointment of connoisseurs, ketchup. Because the meat is usually cooked on a griddle, teamed or broiled, there are no extra cooking fats involved, thus reducing the junk food effect of this popular street served snack.

Hot dogs have been around for over 2000 years, but the original version was not served in a bun. The term 'dog' is said to originate from the questionable origins of the meat in the sausages of street vendors. Referring to the dog as hot came from a prosaic quote about a cold winter's night in America and the children being served hot Dogs, but many countries lay claim to being the originators of the cuisine. Although the term hot dog conjures up images of an all American nature, the origins appear to lie in Europe with Frankfurter and Weiner both being names for the sausage, their origins lying in Germany.

Wherever the origins, it is the Americans that are taking hot dog culture to the limit. They have several mutated varieties of hot dog including the Coney Island, which is served in a shallow dish with a large helping of beanless chili on top; a corn dawg, where the sausage is dipped in corn batter and fried; the Dodger dog, which is a foot long sausage served in a steamed bun and named after a baseball franchise and the Chicago style combo which has pickles and salad and is served on a poppy seed bun. The state of West Virginia holds an annual festival to honour all things weiner-like, from dachshund racing to eating competitions. Bearing this in mind, heralding the meat in a bun option as a healthy alternative to deep fried chicken and pizza might not be such an accolade after all!