On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:12:39 -0700, SMS >
wrote:

>Bert Hyman wrote:
>> In "Rod Speed"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> SMS > wrote
>>
>>>> Actually hot dogs is one of the only foods where most non-kosher
>>>> customers_do_ actually care a lot about the certification, simply
>>>> because of what goes into non-kosher hot dogs.
>>> Easy to claim, hell of a lot harder to actually substantiate that
>>> claim.
>>
>> Reading the government-mandated labels is hard for you?
>>
>
>Actually it's not the government mandated label, which has very little
>enforcement, it's the kosher certification. You don't want to be eating
>the non-kosher all-beef hot dogs because they're using all the parts of
>the animal that the kosher hot dogs can't use.

To be kosher, beef must be slaughtered properly, its lungs and organs
must be free of any disease, and drained of all blood. Now, by
tradition, in respect to Jacob, the sciatic nerve is removed.

To be thorough in removal of blood the meat is 'koshered' or washed,
salted, and rinsed and all the blood vessels are removed. Also, to be
thorough the major nerves are removed. The hindquarter is usually sold
to non-kosher butcher as removing the nerves and blood vessels in the
the hindquarter is a pain.

The liver is treated specially to make it kosher by slitting and
broiling to draw out the blood.

So, beef lips, cheeks, and tongue are kosher.