HOT DOG SAFETY ISSUE RAISED BY TV PROGRAM

PAMELA BLAMEY

NEW YORK -- A cable TV magazine show has raised questions about the safety of hot dogs, claiming that lab analyses detected the presence of listeria in tested products.

"We decided to see whether contaminated hot dogs are making it past the inspectors and into the stores," said Mark Sauter, a reporter on the television program "American Journal." The program is available to TV audiences in about 85% of the United States, according to its producers, King World Productions, based here.

"American Journal" had 10 packages of hot dogs from five different markets tested at an independent laboratory in New Jersey. The products -- 50 packages in all -- contained poultry and meat, carried national and local brands, and came from supermarkets in New York; Tampa, Fla.; Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. The testing facility, New Jersey Laboratories, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified lab that uses "the government method for detecting listeria," said sources from "American Journal."

The program, which aired Feb. 27, reported that one out of every five packages tested was contaminated with listeria.