> most wiener-type sausages sold in the US are fully cooked at the factory I don't know if I would say most, but some may be. From my experience, hotdogs (and

> most wiener-type sausages sold in the US are fully cooked at the factory I don't know if I would say most, but some may be. From my experience, hotdogs (and other sausage products) typically contain a ton of what is known as "pink curing salt" (aka "Prague powder"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_salt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_salt It's dyed pink to prevent confusion with common table salt (and it isn't the same as the "pink artisan table salts" you sometimes see, either); in fact, the amount used in curing sausage and other cured meats is actually very low in proportion. Such cures are used for ham and bacon making, too. The actual meat isn't cooked in any manner, but is perfectly safe to eat - though technically raw. In the case of hame and bacon, the meat (after curing) will usually then go thru a secondary smoking process, which also tends to dry out the outer layer of meat, further protecting it from bacterial intrusion.