An eye on... sausages

Washington Guide Dog Users and the American Council for the Blind yesterday issued a joint statement saying that it is wrong to feed hot dogs to guide dogs, contrary to the impression given in a recent advert for Levi Strauss jeans. "The dog may become sick from the food," they say.

Jersey City The film producer Gerry Beyer is making a documentary entitled Footlong on the hot dog. "To understand America," he says, "you must look at the hot dog."

Coney Island The 82nd annual "Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest" was won by Hirofumi Nakajima of Japan who ate 24 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

London A doctor warned against overdosing on sausages after a man collapsed last month after eating 10 sausages in 20 minutes at a party. The high nitrate content in some sausages can cause a drop in blood pressure. A spokesman for the British Sausage Bureau said they were probably frankfurter- type sausages, and not British bangers.

Frankfurt A statue was erected last month to the memory of Johann Georg Lahner, who invented the frankfurter sausage in 1805.