Are There Worms in Your Hot Dogs?

Why do some people think that there are worms in their hot dogs?

Eating hot dogs is not a common way for kids to acquire parasites, unless maybe they are eating raw hot dogs made from wild boar. And it is not time for a maintenance cleanse for your kids, especially when these folks typically advocate for MMS (bleach) colon cleanses.

The usual suspects...

Are There Worms in Your Hot Dogs?

Wait, what does this have to do with vaccines?

Well, these are the same folks pushing misinformation about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases. And by pushing the idea that there are parasites or worms in the hot dogs we eat, I guess that gives them a way to justify continuing to push the use of ivermectin!

And the worms?

They are fake!

Well, they are probably real worms, but they aren't in our hot dogs. At least they aren't under normal circumstances.

The videos, popular on TikTok and YouTube, showing worms in hot dogs are fake though.

• Viral hot dog clip was a ‘deliberate fake’ by creator
• Fact check: Viral video purporting to show slice of hot dog under a microscope is altered
• Fact Check: NO Evidence That Video Of Hot Dog Showing Microscopic Parasites Is Real
• This is what bad science looks like
• Worms in hotdog meat?!

Hot dogs are not full of worms or parasites!

Hot dogs are pre-cooked when you buy them. And ironically, if hot dogs did have worms, they would likely be Trichinella roundworms and would typically be treated with albendazole or mebendazole, not ivermectin.

To be fair, you can possibly develop trichinellosis if you eat raw or undercooked meat or homemade hot dogs from infected animals. These animals that can be infected with the trichinella parasite can include pork and game meats (bear, wild boar, and cougar, etc.)

But hot dogs that you buy in the store?

No worms.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can safely eat raw hot dogs.

Just like drinking raw milk, there is a greater risk of food poisoning with raw foods. With raw or undercooked hot dogs, the concern is Listeria monocytogenes, not worms though...

Most hot dogs are pre-cooked though. You just have to reheat them, which is still a very good idea, especially if you are at high risk for food poisoning.

But the idea that hot dogs are teeming with parasites is fake.

More on Misinformation from Sherri Tenpenny

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• More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic
• The Ohio State Medical Board has finally suspended the medical license of antivax quack Sherri Tenpenny
• Ivermectin goes from being the new hydroxychloroquine to being the new MMS
• New measles myth from vaccine denier Sherri Tenpenny – not a disease
• Research, you’re doing it wrong: A look at Tenpenny’s “Vaccine Research Library”
• Sherri Tenpenny claims her anti-vaccine comments are like Jesus
• Can Vaccines Make Our Body Magnetic?
• Sherri Tenpenny makes false COVID-19 vaccine magnetism claim to Ohio lawmakers
• Fact Check: Dr. Sherri Tenpenny Interview Is Full Of False, Misleading Claims About COVID-19
• Worms in Balogna?
• Fact check: Pouring Coca-Cola on pork does not make worms appear
• USDA - Hot Dogs and Food Safety