In honor of National Hot Dog Month, Applegate Farms recently sponsored a national survey, conducted by Toluna Omnibus, to better understand how people feel about what is in their hot dogs and what they put on them. While they found regional differences in what people like on their hot dogs, an overwhelming 77 percent of respondents – a national sample of 1045 US adults aged 18+, balanced on key demographics – are concerned about what’s in their hot dogs.

Hot dogs have become marred with controversy especially with regards to ingredients used in some sausages – ‘mystery meat’…and it’s no wonder with ingredients like sodium diacetate and partially hydrolyzed beef stock on most conventional hot dog labels,” The survey found that many people have a love-hate relationship with hot dogs, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Consumers are looking for simplicity of ingredients and confidence in labels. 81% of respondents reporting that they prefer to purchase hot dogs with fewer than seven ingredients as compared to conventional hot dogs that can have more than fifteen ingredients, some of which are also found in fireworks and hand warmers. Antiobiotic use in animals is also a high priority, with 75 percent of respondents reporting concern about its use in the meat they consume.

The following infographic breaks down what’s in your dog, some of the issues and offers some fun regional ideas for how to spice up your hot dogs.