Possibly more literally than you imagine. A friend whose son is a truck driver told me that some years ago, one of his assignments was to haul "floor sweepings and mistakes" from the local Malt-O-Meal (you know those cheaper bags of sugary cereals) plant to a pet food plant.

Yep. Plus road kill, vet cadavers, research animals, USDA rejects, etc. If it's solid enough to be scooped off a floor, it goes into commercial pet food.

Ick.

Zenkitty, I don't have smonster's carrot recipe, but I personally love Korean carrot salad, which is a bigtime Russian favorite. I've had it at the local Uzbek restaurant, but haven't made it at home yet. It's fabulously spicy in that vinegar-y way, and the recipe I linked looks relatively easy.

My dad didn't eat hot dogs for years after he'd toured a hot dog plant. (The gritty plant floor, because he was selling them a fire alarm system.) I never wanted to know what he saw.

Oh, I meant to say yesterday, Vortex, how happy I am to hear that you have found out what's the matter, and that it's not all that bad.

Not quite, on the "likes carrots". I think there's an entry on the FAQ, but X like carrots when your friends are having an unrelated conversation (say, about recipes for carrots) and your contribution is to sigh and say that X (object of your affection) like carrots.

Yay for St. Woot's virtues and Vortex's non-scary diagnosis.

Hot dogs and bologna both can be made from some fairly scary things, but not if the ingredients are listed as the meat name. Beef hot dogs, for example, have to be made from cuts of beef you'd recognize. The more appalling ingredients are listed as "byproducts," "variety meat" and "mechanically separated."

My father was known to read the ingredients of competitors' bologna at the dinner table.

My father was known to read the ingredients of competitors' bologna at the dinner table.

Oh MY.

The more appalling ingredients are listed as "byproducts" "variety meat" and "mechanically separated."

By products, 'meal,' 'natural flavorings'...all should be avoided in pet food as well.

This is why I only buy Kosher hot dogs.

Kathy, I bookmarked that recipe, thanks!

It was also the mid-1970s when Dad visited the plant, so I would hope some things have changed.

I just entirely meant to type "Dad" and it came out "Dean." There's no hope for me.

I may be discovering that Benadryl capules make me sleepier than Benadryl gelcaps. Does that make any sense? Usually I take the gelcaps, and have little sleepiness during the day. Today, store was out of gelcaps, so I got the capsules, and boom, four-hour nap in the mid-afternoon, nothing accomplished today at all.