Alan S. Geisler | Hot dog sauce maker, 78

Alan S. Geisler, 78, the man behind the tasty red onion sauce many New Yorkers love on their hot dogs, died Tuesday at his winter home in Hernando, Fla., after a battle with a protein disorder.

Mr. Geisler's sauce, which includes onions, tomato paste and olive oil, remains in distribution today. It's marketed nationwide as "Sabrett's Prepared Onions."

Mr. Geisler created the sauce 44 years ago at the request of a customer - hot dog and bun manufacturer Gregory Papalexis, whose Englewood, N.J.-based Marathon Enterprises Inc. now owns the Sabrett brand. - AP