6 Worst Hot Dog Brands at the Grocery Store

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Boy and girl children in the kitchen eating sausages with pasta is very fun and friendly
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Not Dogs

Hot dogs get a bad rep — “cancer in a tube” and all that. But a good one, a real one, can hold its own next to a burger or even a steak. The problem is, most of what ends up in grocery carts isn’t that. With summer cookouts around the corner, we looked at some of the most popular grocery brands and checked which ones get the most hate from shoppers on Reddit.com — and why. 

Gwaltney Great Hot Dogs Original
Walmart

Gwaltney Great Dogs Original

Gwaltney claims these are “America’s No. 1 chicken hot dog,” and their main selling point is that they have 40% less fat than regular beef hot dogs. They’re marketed as a lighter, affordable option, and you’ll usually find them at places like Walmart, Food Lion, and other big grocery chains for about $1.50 to $2 a pack. 


What you're actually getting is a hot dog made mostly of mechanically separated chicken, with some pork, water, corn syrup, and generic “flavorings.”  


They’re not big in the flavor department either — and judging by Reddit, people have some strong feelings about that. “They are absolutely horrific and the way they look in the frying pan is disturbing me to my core,” said one Redditor.“They’re the second worst hot dog I’ve ever had the displeasure of biting into and then promptly spitting into a napkin and throwing away,”adds another.

FUD Hot Dogs
Instacart

FUD Hot Dogs

You’ll mostly find them at Walmart and select grocery stores, especially in areas with a large Hispanic customer base. They’re priced in the low-to-mid range, usually around $2.50 to $3 a pack, but you’re mostly paying for disappointment. These are made from mechanically separated chicken and pork, with salt, flavoring, and sodium lactate to round out the flavorless parade. Reddit users have roasted FUD consistently for years — many say they couldn’t even finish the pack. The texture is rubbery, the taste is bland and off-putting, and even boiling doesn’t help. 

Bar-S Classic and Beef Franks
Walmart

Bar-S Classic and Beef Franks

Bar-S is an ultra-budget brand owned by Sigma (yes, same as FUD), and it’s one of the top-selling hot dog brands in America, not because it's good, but because it’s dirt cheap. You can find it everywhere from Walmart to Dollar General, usually under $1.50 per pack. It’s also one of the most hated hot dog brands out there. The classic franks are made with mechanically separated chicken and turkey, with a little pork thrown in and beef hearts for flair. Ingredients include corn syrup, sodium nitrite, and potassium lactate. On Reddit and Chowhound, they’re called “possessed," “mushy,” “too sweet,” and “unsettling in texture.”  


“Bar s dogs of all flavors are like eating marshmallow meat and they don’t get plump when you cook them”one Redditor said. “Mystery meat dogs at their worst.” 

Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners
Walmart

Oscar Mayer Classic Wieners

Oscar Mayer proudly claims their hot dogs have “no fillers,” which feels a bit rich when you flip the package over and see what’s actually in them. The ingredient list starts with mechanically separated chicken and turkey, plus some pork, which translates to mystery meat and a long scroll of additives like sodium phosphate, sodium benzoate, and sodium nitrite. This isn’t exactly a clean label. 


You can find these just about everywhere — Target, Kroger, Safeway — for around $3.50 to $5 a pack.


They do have a nostalgic fan base, but they are also wildly roasted on Reddit for being the “default bad hot dog.” ​​I sometimes think about buying Oscar Mayers hot dogs then I see them on the shelf and I look at their color and then always pass,” one user sums it up.

Ball Park Franks
Walgreens

Ball Park Franks (Regular and Grillmaster)

Ball Park is everywhere — Costco, CVS, your neighbor’s Fourth of July cookout. Owned by Tyson Foods, the brand has been around forever and sells a dizzying number of varieties. The regular franks are made from a blend of mechanically separated chicken and pork, corn syrup, and a long list of preservatives. They’re soft, overly sweet, and don’t grill particularly well. According to one Redditor. “They taste like what you imagine hot dog water tastes like.”


The beef versions, especially the Grillmaster line, get noticeably more respect. They’re made with actual beef — no mystery meats — and they cook up with better texture and flavor.

Jennie-O Turkey Franks
Walmart

Jennie-O Turkey Franks

Jennie-O is known for turkey, but these franks don’t do the brand any favors. They show up in most grocery stores — Safeway, Meijer, Albertsons — for around $3 to $4 a pack, and they’re sold as the “healthier” option. But low fat doesn’t mean much when the end result is dry, dense, and painfully bland. 


The ingredients aren’t great either — mechanically separated turkey, water, corn syrup, and not much else. No real seasoning to speak of.  


Looking for some better options? Check out our list of hot dogs that include high-quality ingredients.