Cancer Project

Are hot dogs as dangerous as cigarettes? According to one non-profit health organization, the answer is a resounding yes.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organization that promotes preventative medicine, erected a billboard near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to warn NASCAR fans about the dangers of gobbling hot dogs. Emblazoned with the message “Warning: Hot Dogs Can Wreck Your Health” and a picture of grilled franks sticking out of a pack of cigarettes, the message is pretty dire.

However, Susan Levin, nutrition director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, believes the dire warning is necessary.

"A hot dog a day could send you to an early grave," Levin said in a press release. "Processed meats like hot dogs can increase your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and various types of cancer. Like cigarettes, hot dogs should come with a warning label that helps racing fans and other consumers understand the health risk."

The group cites a variety of studies that show a strong link between cancer and processed meats, as well as one suggesting that men and women who regularly eat processed meats increase their risk of diabetes by 41%.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine isn't the only one to report on the risks of eating processed meat. In May 2010, CBS News reported that eating hot dogs, bacon, and other meats can increase one's risk of heart disease by 42% and diabetes by 19%.

The meat industry believes the Committee's billboard is alarmist and unnecessary.

"This is an absurd claim," Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, told CBS News. "Trying to link a food product that has clear nutritional value with a product like cigarettes, which have no redeeming qualities, is inflammatory and alarmist."

CBS News

Tags: hot dogs, hot dogs health risk, processed meats health risk, physicians committee for responsible medicine
Categories: Men's health