30% Said This Hot Dog Condiment Is The Absolute Worst

With spring and summer come an array of delicious seasonal dishes including egg salad, gazpachos, and...hot dogs? You read that right. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (or NHDSC), with warmer weather comes the hot dog's biggest season, which spans from Memorial Day to Labor Day and sees Americans gobble down an estimated 7 billion franks, with 150 million of them alone being consumed on the Fourth of July. 

One thing that makes hot dogs so great is their ability to be customized to the eater's liking, and most vendors offer a wide range of toppings that can be used to create the perfect bite. There are dozens of different ways you can dress up the grilling staple, from dousing it with classic condiments such as ketchup or mustard, or getting fancy with your toppings to put together one of the many regional versions of the dog (via the NHDSC).

For the most part, any combination toppings for the food that Betty White credits to her long life will yield a delectable bite, though there are a few in particular that people would rather leave in the jar. A recent survey conducted by Mashed asked 655 individuals in the United States what they considered the worst hot dog condiment, and the respondents appeared to be considerably less divided than people are on the other major hot dog debate: whether or not it can be considered a sandwich.

Earning the least amount of votes in our survey – meaning it was widely considered a hot dog topping of choice – was cheese, which was only deemed a no-go by 6.72 percent of respondents, or 44 people. Chili earned the second-lowest number of votes, being rated the "worst" by 48 people, or 7.33 percent.

Mustard and ketchup were also a considerable favorite, being labeled the worst hot dog condiment by 8.55 and 8.7 percent, respectively. The third member of the "classic" trio, relish, didn't fare quite as well, as 15.27 percent of respondents, or 100 people, called it the worst hot dog condiment.

Despite the NHDSC listing tomatoes as a key ingredient to putting together a classic Chicago dog, the salad component polled in at the second-worst topping for a hot dog, taking 22.9 percent of the votes. And finally, per our survey, the condiment earning the title of absolute worst to put on a hot dog was sauerkraut. Labeled "evil and nasty" by one Redditor, the tangy fermented cabbage dish of German descent didn't sit well with nearly one-third of respondents, raking in a total of 30.53 percent of the votes. So what's the lesson here? Well, if you're stocking up on hot dogs and condiments for their upcoming busy season, maybe hold off on putting sauerkraut in your cart.