The fashion of the street food has brought hot dogs back to us as well, the delicious American sausage sandwiches. A temptation that must be resisted at all costs? We asked the doctor Sara Gilardi, nutrition biologist in Volterra, Livorno and Turin.
What do you find in kiosks that sell hot dogs
- hot dog sold on the street are almost never a healthy meal. «Generally the bread used is an industrial product, which contains fat and dextrose, used as a stabilizer. And also i sausage they are hardly of first quality: there is little meat and the largest percentage is made up of processing waste, with the addition of additives. Not to mention the mayonnaise and ketchup with which the sandwich is stuffed: the first has a lot of lipids, the second massive doses of sugars. What is more, it is a meal low in fiber and vitamins which, not surprisingly, is considered the king of junk food.
Last but not least, there is the hygiene problem: the analyzes carried out on this kind of products bought in kiosks often show one considerable concentration of bacteria, due to the fact that they are kept in the open air for hours », concludes the nutritionist.
If you really want to take off the whim, buy truck hot dogs that sell quality food. The Stretfood certified corners, for example, guarantee you artisanal bread stuffed with frankfurters made only with local meat, like the one that comes from the animals that graze in the Belluno Dolomites.
How to shop if you made the sandwich yourself
If you prepare thehot dog you have the opportunity to check the ingredients of processed meat, choose fresh bread freshly baked e add greens high in fiber, like salad, which modulate fat absorption. "For the frankfurter, it is good to focus on products with the highest quantity of meat (it must appear first on the label and, possibly, the package must specify the percentage), with few additives, such as starches, sugars and polyphosphates.
Be careful, why often processed meats contain many synthetic substances: the shorter the list of ingredients, the better the quality. Also check that there are no taste enhancers, such as glutamate », continues the expert. The poorest products, then, are obtained by working the waste parts of the pig and the remains of the carcasses of the chickens, which are minced and mixed with preservatives and stabilizers in powder, for example theE451, or potassium triphosphate or sodium, flavorings and dyes. «To avoid them, choose packages that bear the words 'meat not separated mechanically'».
