Ketchup becomes issue at Chicago hot dog trial

Associated Press

12:00 p.m. CDT, August 15, 2011

CHICAGO - Whether hot dogs should be served with ketchup has become an
issue at a federal trial in Chicago involving the nation's largest hot dog
makers.

The civil trial that pits Sara Lee and Kraft began Monday.

Part of Sara Lee's complaint is that Kraft based claims about having the
nation's tastiest hot dogs on allegedly flawed taste tests.

Sara Lee attorney Richard Leighton said one shortcoming was that
participants couldn't put condiments on their hot dogs.

Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow interrupted when Leighton suggested ketchup
should have been among the condiments.

Denlow alluded to a rule among connoisseurs in the city to never to put
ketchup on a Chicago-style hot dog.

When Leighton mentioned ketchup as a potential topping, Denlow said,
"That's an area of great dispute."

<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-hotdogbeef-ketchu,0,7807054.story>

from another account:

Sara Lee had fired the first volley in a 2009 lawsuit singling out Oscar
Mayer ads that brag its dogs beat Ball Park franks in a national taste
test. Leighton argued the tests were deeply flawed, including by serving
the hot dogs to participants without buns or condiments.

"They were served boiled hot dogs on a white paper plate," he complained.
He added that Sara Lee's hot dogs may well have tasted too salty or smoky
eaten sans buns.

[...]

At another point, Denlow said one could argue Sara Lee engaged in similar
practices, including by basing its claims of being the No. 1 hot dog by
citing in its ads an award given to Ball Park franks by ten leading chefs
in San Francisco.

"And how would ten chefs in San Francisco know what the best hot dog is
when they have never been to Chicago or tasted a Chicago hot dog?" Denlow
said, cracking a smile.

<http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9P4MLRG0.htm>

your pal,
blake