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Lawsuit claims hot dogs raise cancer risk

spaceboots06

spaceboots06

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
http://www.examiner.com/x-14998-Chi...d22-Lawsuit-claims-hot-dogs-raise-cancer-risk

July 22, 6:57 PM

In the land of frankfurters, where Americans eat 20 billion hot dogs a year, would a warning label stop you from eating a hot dog?

The Cancer Project, a vegan advocacy group, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey court on July 22nd against Hebrew National, Nathan's, Oscar Mayer, and Sara Lee Corp. The nonprofit group hopes the lawsuit will compel the meat processors to put cancer-risk warning labels on hot dog packaging in New Jersey.

According to the president of the Cancer Project, Neal Barnard, "Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer."

The lawsuit alleges that nitrates in hot dogs raise the risk of colorectal cancer. When nitrates break down in the body, they turn into nitrosamines, cancer-causing carcinogens.

Acting as preservatives, nitrates are used to stop bacterial growth and enhance color in cured meats, like bacon and fish, as well as processed meats, like hot dogs.

But nitrates also naturally occur in known cancer-fighting foods: vegetables, especially spinach, green lettuce, and celery. Since veggies also contain Vitamin C and D, nitrates can not form compounds with amines, and therefore, do not become dangerous. Drinking orange juice can also neutralize the harmful effects of nitrates.

To reduce the risk associated with nitrates, doctors recommend eating hot dogs in moderation, specifically by not consuming more than 12 hot dogs per month. Some hot dog manufacturers also make hot dogs without adding nitrates.

This lawsuit is not the first of its kind. In 2008, manufacturers lowered the use of another chemical thought to raise the risk of cancer, acrylamide, after a lawsuit demanded warning labels on the packaging of potato chips and french fries. Other foods and ingredients associated with cancer risk include sugar and hydrogenated oils.
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Do I want cancer? No. Do I like hotdogs? Yes. Would a warming label stop me from eating hotdogs? Perhaps.
 
12 hotdogs a month? sheesh.

"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."
 
I used to like to eat them in summertime but I did quit buying them after reading a bunch of the articles about the nitrates. But it would not take a lot of urging for me to snag one off a grill at a bbq once in a while.
 
I would think someone eating 12+ hot dogs a month is also eating a lot of burgers, fries and other high fat/cholesterol fast foods. It seems to me that the risk of death from heart disease or other problems with high cholesterol and/or being morbidly obese would be much greater than colon cancer.

Sort like someone who works with asbestos. Suing over the tools not being ergonomic.

Actually this is even more frivolous. As it is vegetarians suing over meat filled hot dogs causing cancer. Since they do not eat them in the first place. Perhaps they are suing for second hand hot dog cancer🙄.

So this is like suing a company that works with asbestos for there tools not being ergonomic. When you do not work for the company nor ever use any of their tools.

This is truly one of the hallmark "America Land of the Frivolous Lawsuit" cases.
 
Until Joey Chesnut or Takeru (Tsunami) Kobayashi is diagnosed with colon cancer, I'd take such news with a grain of salt. For those not in the know, they're top ranked dog munchers, downing 68 and 64 dogs respectively.😱 In ten minutes.😱😱😱

As my grandpappy used to say, "In old country, we don't eat THAT part of dog."😉
 
velocityg4 said:
I would think someone eating 12+ hot dogs a month is also eating a lot of burgers, fries and other high fat/cholesterol fast foods. It seems to me that the risk of death from heart disease or other problems with high cholesterol and/or being morbidly obese would be much greater than colon cancer.

Sort like someone who works with asbestos. Suing over the tools not being ergonomic.

Actually this is even more frivolous. As it is vegetarians suing over meat filled hot dogs causing cancer. Since they do not eat them in the first place. Perhaps they are suing for second hand hot dog cancer🙄.

So this is like suing a company that works with asbestos for there tools not being ergonomic. When you do not work for the company nor ever use any of their tools.

This is truly one of the hallmark "America Land of the Frivolous Lawsuit" cases.
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The only reputable study pretty much says the same thing, e.g. folks who tend to eat lots of hot dogs also eat a lot of other high fat, highly processed crap. Folks who eat more a more healthy diet with a lot of chicken and fish suffer a slightly lower incidence of colon cancer. The inverse is not necessarily true. There is no reputable study that ties the ingestion of nitrides to an increased risk of colon cancer.

The lawsuit is more a publicity stunt than serious effort to obtain the labeling of hot dogs. The agency who has the sole authority to issue such written warnings is the FDA.





Remember, had G_d meant us to not eat animals, he would not have made them out of meat. 😀
 
There is something to take away from this article. You can eat all the hotdogs you want, as long as you drink orange juice with them, since the vitamin C neutralized the nitrates. Better yet, the hotdog makers should just "fortify" their 'dogs with vit C and call them healthy.
 
Well, most hot dogs contain nitrites and nitrates as preservatives, and both are known carcinogens. The fact is, the food industry has immense power and will not lose this lawsuit. If you are concerned about cancer, don't eat hot dogs. If you eat hot dogs, understand that there are chemicals in them that are carcinogens. And if you smoke, please be aware that cigarettes contain carcinogens...
 
Figures some zealot would say shoving weiners down your mouth and passing them through your colon would be bad for you.
 
mashny said:
Well, most hot dogs contain nitrites and nitrates as preservatives, and both are known carcinogens. The fact is, the food industry has immense power and will not lose this lawsuit. If you are concerned about cancer, don't eat hot dogs. If you eat hot dogs, understand that there are chemicals in them that are carcinogens. And if you smoke, please be aware that cigarettes contain carcinogens...
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And if you drink water, please be aware that ingesting too much distilled water can be fatal. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ Its all a matter of degree and the use of one's own noggin.

By the way, neither nitrates or nitrites are carcinogens. The arguement is that they break down in the body into alleged cancer causing elements. There are a number of reputable reports that do not agree with this contention, even in fairly large doses. http://infoventures.com/cancer/canlit/eti1195a.html The plaintiff's lawsuit acknowledges that there are contrary studies on the issue. This is why the FDA take months, and years, poring over conflicting reports and deciding whether warning labels are necessary. A judge hearing the case may have one or two trial days to decide.

I smoke 2-3 cigars a year. I do not need the government or FDA to tell me there is a cancer risk in doing do. I am well aware of the risks and have weighed the pros and cons and made my own decision that the pleasure I have derived from the occasional cigar outweighs the cancer risk.
 
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