Vienna sausages have been a lunch time and camping staple for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for decades, and now the humble snack’s deep European roots has been given UNESCO heritage recognition.

The traditional Vienna sausage stand was added to a national list of intangible cultural heritage overseen by the Austrian UNESCO Commission and got official global recognition last month.

The treats Newfoundlanders put in their lunch pails and take on road trips are a far cry from the sausages sold by Austrian street vendors. So the question is, how did a sausage originating on the streets of Vienna become such a popular canned food in Newfoundland and Labrador?

Executive Director of Heritage NL Dale Jarvis says in this case, it was introduced locally by the American soldiers during WWII.

“The sausages that we call Vienna sausages are American,” says Jarvis. “There was an Austro-Hungarian couple who moved to the U.S. in the early 1900s and they started what we now know as Vienna Sausages, packing these little things in cans, and Americans spread it world-wide. It was very a popular thing with American servicemen who were overseas. So, that might give you a bit of hint of how Vienna Sausages became so popular in Newfoundland.”