I'm not sure what documentaries you're watching. Natural sausage casings are specialty items. If you're buying it at the grocery store, it's probably collagen

I'm not sure what documentaries you're watching. Natural sausage casings are specialty items. If you're buying it at the grocery store, it's probably collagen (closely related to gelatin). And it's not "all the waste". It includes fatty cuts that people wouldn't want to eat whole, but it doesn't include organ meats outside of specialty items. Perhaps people find meat-grinding distressing, though it's really not all that different from ground beef. The emulsified filling of hot dogs and bologna looks odd, but the ingredients are inoffensive. I'm less disturbed by sausage-making than by the slaughter and prime butchering of animals. They're no less dead and dismembered if you're eating a steak or pot roast. I'd rather we at least make use of all of the other parts.