Hot Dog Obsessions…

I have begun to believe that Hot Dogs is the culmination of American meat and bread craving or what I alternatively think is the lack of imagination when it comes to food matters. And what triggered this thought was a couple of recent news articles that passed my screen in the last week or so. There was news of a 1-pound hot dog for $26 being dished out at the Rangers Ballpark in Texas which just by virtue of being a $ 26 Hot Dog will be bought, consumed, blogged and tweeted about across the hot dog communities – I thought this was an economy that was recovering from depression; if Hot Dogs are any indication, for a society that consumes a $26 Hot Dog might as well be the richest country – Quatar (by far the richest country based on IMF, World Bank and CIA) clearly have serious competition. 

And this is not even close to what passes for records these days and that brings me to the other slightly older news was of the world’s most expensive Hot Dog  debuting in VANCOUVER, British Columbia at $100 for the foot-long dog infused with cognac along with lobster and Kobe beef. Using a 100-year-old Louis XIII cognac that costs more than $2,000 a bottle this Dragon Dog (as it has been christened) is all set to usurp the erstwhile top dollar dog sold at New York's Serendipity restaurant at $ 69. I think it might even take the spot for the ugliest looking edible food that is paid for consumption.

I think the management is under undue and wrongful influence of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council that reports a whopping $1.68 billion in hot dog consumption based on retail sales – whopping! For something that ranges from $0.99 to $2.50 on an average per unit; it’s a massive number of units consumed. That’s how much foreign reserves India added on in 2011. I am assuming that the consumption of the high dollar value Hot Dogs is an invisible dent on the overall consumption and this makes me wonder why America has such problem figuring out the cause of its obesity problem! Ranging from 1500 calories to 3000+ calories, I think a major part of the problem will be solved if Lady Obama can convince hubby darling to ban Hot Dogs in the the country. Compared to the quantum of bad decision making that marks the White House, this might actually be the legacy and a chapter in a history that archives 100+ years. And no surprise, Hot Dogs, like most other food in the USA, were not of US origin – the origins of the Hot Dog lies in Frankfurter Würstchen dating back to 13th century Germany.

Coming back to Obama’s legacy though, there is good reason I am told that Hot Dogs should be banned. An American Institute for Cancer Research report found that consuming one 50-gram serving of processed meat — about one hot dog — every day increases risk of colorectal cancer by 20 percent. 17% of food-related asphyxiations among children younger than 10 years of age were caused by hot dogs – apparently Their size, shape and texture make them difficult to expel from the windpipe. I think this is why they started making the out of shape ugly varieties as the Dragon Dog. But banning it might put some dent on the money to be made from ensuing class action suits for cancers and choking kids. The legal lobby might pose a serious threat if ever the Government got to it.

But can you imagine a world without Hot Dogs? Sure! There are plenty of unhealthy and unhealthier food to give the the cancer, heart disease and legal fees. But that’s for another day…