There are more than two hundred varieties of sausage that differ according to the meat, the fineness of the chopping or grinding, the seasonings used and the processing method (smoking, cooking, drying) employed. Per capita sausage consumption in the United States is now an astounding eleven kilograms a year, with the ubiquitous or wiener, accounting for about thirty percent of the total. The frankfurter (after the German cityj is better known in the United States as the-hot dog.llespecially when in its traditional presentation in a long bread bun, and so popular is it that fourteen billion are eaten every year in the United States, equivalent to sixty for every man, woman, and child in the country-including vegetarlans. The contents are strictly governed to by law, with the USDA requiring manufacturers to use muscle meat. In fact, heart, liver, and kidney may also be used but only if this is openly stated. Contents must be eighty-five percent meat, ten percent water, and 2.5 percent salt, with the remainder comprising spices, and preservatives, Casing were traditionally made from animal intestines, but now ninety percent of the hot dogs consumed are skinless.