So, I was at the grocery store today when...

[Mr. Minsc]

I walked by a couple brands of wieners labeled "natural".  That made me snicker.

[Zamboni]

natural is an unregulated word.  That is pretty funny, though, and I'll guess they cost more than the plain old BarS wieners.

My favorite is when anything is labelled "chemical free."  Umm, no, but it probably does sell product.

[Honest Abe]

They should regulate the word "weiner"

[Jamesqf]

So what exactly is unnatural about a weiner, or a sausage in general?  You take some bits of meat & stuff, grind them up, and stuff into a sausage casing.

[Zamboni]

^Most of them are probably pumped full or preservatives that aren't originally in the meat.  Some of these are likely human inventions, but I'm in favor of eating food that isn't spoiled, so preservatives are not all bad.  Sugar and salt are examples of two excellent natural preservatives that nature invented. 

But since the word natural doesn't mean anything in the world of food labels, who knows if the natural wieners should cost more than the regular wieners?  Probably they should not.

[Mr. Minsc]

One brand of these wieners also had a note saying they were made from animals who were raised 100% antibiotic free.

I just find it amusing to find the word "natural" on a collection of animal parts which is highly processed and cooked into a consumable product.

Of course, I already know to take the word "natural" with a grain of salt. ;)

[dragoncar]

I used to laugh about "organic," saying "oh I hate those synthetic hot dogs" but it only earned me blank stares.

[Jamesqf]

^Most of them are probably pumped full or preservatives that aren't originally in the meat. 

Yes.  What I meant (I see I wasn't quite clear) is that maybe the "natural" weiners have just the meat & stuff*, not the artifical preservatives.

*I don't really know what goes into weiners, and don't want to, either :-)

[C. K.]

I used to laugh about "organic," saying "oh I hate those synthetic hot dogs" but it only earned me blank stares.

Ha! My mother would have us try them. They always had the taste and texture of rubber erasers.

Now they've improved; they taste like softer rubber erasers.