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“The hot dog is sort of an ambassador for the company,” says Gina Asoudegan, who for 16 years has helped New Jersey-based Applegate Farms fulfill its mission of “changing the meat we eat.” Although they aren’t Applegate’s top-selling item—chicken nuggets are—hot dogs, with their iconic American food status, have become a showcase for innovation at the company, which sells humanely raised, non-GMO, antibiotic-free deli meats, sausages, burgers, bacon, and cheese in more than 22,600 stores nationwide. (Hormel Foods purchased the company in 2015 for roughly $775 million).