HOT DOGS AND GROUND EARTH WORMS

There has been a rumor, a very old one, that hot dogs have ground earthworms in them. The antioxidant, sodium erythorbate, is the ingredient they think is really ground
earthworms. It is not.
In meat curing, sodium erythorbate controls and accelerates the nitrite curing reaction and maintains the color brightness. It is used in frankfurters, bologna and other cured meats.
Several years ago the rumor was started that it was ground earthworms--totally false. This probably resulted from someone noting that the work "earth" is derived from the Middle English work "erthe".