22,613,653 members doing good!
share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more
Jul 23, 2009

"Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer."

That's the label that a vegan advocacy group wants added to hot dog packages.
.
The nonprofit Cancer Project filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking that the companies be compelled to place cancer-risk warning labels on hot dog packages sold in New Jersey.
.
"Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer," said Neal Barnard, president of the Cancer Project and an adjunct professor at the George Washington University medical school in Washington, D.C. "Companies that sell hot dogs are well aware of the danger, and their customers deserve the same information."
.
What the "Man In The Street" thinks of this: 
"Crazy." said Josh Urdang, 27, as he stood in line to buy two franks at a hot dog stand. "It wouldn't change how many hot dogs I eat."
.
His friend Joe Di Lauro, 31, called such a move "overpolicing. . . . At what point do you stop breaking things down? Unless we're going to put a warning label on every single food and say what's bad in it."
.
Another consumer said, "Vegans complaining about hot dogs is like the Amish complaining about gas prices." 
.
Nutrition experts say that the science is far more complicated and that slapping warning labels on the staple of baseball games and picnics would not have much effect on public health.
.
The industry is dead set against such warning labels. "These proposals are unfounded. Hot dogs have been enjoyed by consumers for more than 100 years," said a Kraft spokeswoman.
.
The Cancer Project is a branch of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that lobbies against animal research and pitches the adoption of meat-free diets.
.

In the lawsuit, the Cancer Project cites the role of nitrites, preservatives used in cured and processed meats such as hot dogs, in the development of cancer-forming agents. During digestion, nitrites break down into nitrosamines and other N-nitroso compounds that are considered carcinogens.
.
It is true that medical studies have linked red and processed meats to cancer risk, but it's not clear whether it is because of the nitrites or other factors such as high fat content.
.
An American Institute for Cancer Research report cited in the lawsuit notes that one 50-gram serving of processed meat -- about the amount in one hot dog -- consumed daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer 21% on average.
.
Colorectal cancer kills about 50,000 Americans annually.
..............................................
C2NN article posted by Terry
Original article:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hot-dog23-2009jul23,0,1642891.story


 

 
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.

Author

Thubten Chokyi
female , committed relationship, 2 children
Sydney, Australia
Shares by Type:
All (348) | Blog (298) | Alert (14) | Top 10 List (1) | Recipe (8) | Photo (1) | Tribute (1) | Message (25)

Showing shares tagged with: nitrites [show all]
SHARES FROM THUBTEN'S NETWORK
Jun
19
(1 comments  |  discussions )
Pet food maker Natura has announced a massive voluntary recall of its brands of dry pet food due to salmonella concerns. The recall includes all Innova, California Natural, EVO, Healthwise, Mother Nature and Karma branded dry pet food ...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
A disease is killing the UK’s ash trees at an alarming rate and, once a tree is infected, there is no known cure. However, scientists may now be one step closer to a solution after unraveling the genome of a resistant ash tree cousin. Ash die-b...
Jun
18
(0 comments  |  discussions )
ml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC -html4
(0 comments  |  discussions )
An Israeli zoo is making headlines for using acupuncture to try to ease the pain of one of its mature tigers, but is this really in the tiger’s best interests? Pedang, a 14-year-old male Sumatran tiger who is housed at the open-air Ramat Gan Sa...
Jun
17
(0 comments  |  discussions )
A new study presents startling findings that rapid climate change may threaten many more species of plants and animals than previous measures have led us to believe. The study, one of the biggest of its kind, found that only 6–9% of birds...
by Greg V.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
N 45° 14.651 W 113° 28.688 Directions (this is the site we used in 2000): From Interstate 15 near Dillon, Montana (about 60 miles south of the Interstate 90/15 interchange). Take the MT-278 exit, EXIT 59, toward Jackson/Wisdom. Just south of...
Jun
16
by Juta S.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
I have, many times, given others a "smokescreen of assumed vacuity" to avoid confrontation and agruments---really feel very unhappy when that happens; not only with me but with anyone else within my family....I have, throughought my life,  tried ...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Vaccines are a medical wonder, but at the moment they are a pain: unpleasant for the recipient and difficult and costly to transport and store. In answer to this, scientists have now created a potentially revolutionary vaccine patch that is painless ...
by Greg V.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
eARTh heART: Why does the US Government fear trial by jury? NDA...: Remember Miranda? "You have the right to remain silent when questioned. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of...
by Greg V.
(0 comments  |  0 discussions )
Remember Miranda? "You have the right to remain silent when questioned. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during ...

Copyright © 2013 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved