Report: Human DNA found in hot dogs

Jessica Durando | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Study finds human DNA in hot dogs After analyzing hot dogs from 75 different brands, Clear Foods discovered human DNA in 2% of the samples studied. Rachel Holt (@ItsRachelHolt) dishes what else the study found.

Hot dogs are considered one of the most American foods.

However, a report uncovered some startling findings on what people are really eating when they bite into a frankfurter.

Clear Food analyzed 345 hot dogs and sausages from 75 different brands sold at 10 retailers and found that 14% had hygienic or substitution issues, according to the report.

(Substitution means when ingredients are added to the product that are not displayed on the label and hygienic issues happen when a "non-harmful contaminant is introduced to the hot dog.")

The online food guide, which uses "genomic technology" to examine foods by ingredients, found human DNA in 2% of the samples. Two-thirds of the human DNA samples were vegetarian, according to Clear Food.

However, Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, said Clear Food "has said very little about its sample collection procedure."

"It's entirely possible that the human DNA found could be linked back to the company's own staff," Riley said in a statement on Tuesday. "Likewise, when they suggest that some products showed the presence of another species, like chicken in a beef product, this could also be from a single cell and even result from very practice of pulling samples from multiple packages in the same room as the company may have done."

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council has attempted to reach Clear Food multiple times for further explanation on the report, according to Riley.

Initial attempts by USA TODAY Network to reach out to the company independently have proved unsuccessful.

Other findings include:

Ten percent of vegetarian products contained meat.

Samples showed chicken, beef, turkey and lamb were found in products that were not supposed to have those ingredients.

Sixty-seven percent of hygienic problems found in the report were from vegetarian products.

Clear Food also finds "there are a number of hot dog manufacturers, large and small, that are producing high-quality hot dogs with integrity."

Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich and Hebrew National received the top scores for quality hot dogs among major brands. And Gardein topped the specialty and regional hot dog list.

The report comes amid unrelated research released by the World Health Organization on Monday that finds eating hot dogs, ham and other processed meat can cause colorectal cancer.