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Worms in Balogna?

Absolutely not. But here is the question I got: "A friend told me that that ground up earthworms are being used as fillers in many meat products like wieners and bologna. The name on the package is sodium erythorbate. I've checked packages at stores here and have found only one brand without this ingredient. My little boy loves hot dogs and I hate to think how many I've fed him over the past several years with earthworms in them."

Hard to know how such silly stories arise. Maybe it is the similar sounds of “erythorbate” and “earthworm bait.” Sodium erythorbate is just a form of Vitamin C and is used as a preservative. It also prevents the formation of potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines is meats processed with nitrite.

Erythorbate is a perfectly safe substance and has absolutely nothing to do with earthworms. It makes a lot more sense to minimize hot dog and baloney consumption because of their high fat and salt content than because they contain sodium erythorbate. There is more baloney in the sodium erythorbate story than there is sodium erythorbate in the baloney.

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