Blogs : Food Media
Food Media CHOW's roundup of food-related news from blogs, newspapers, magazines, cookbooks, and film.
Fear on a Bun
It’s easy to forget that processed meats like hot dogs and pepperoni aren’t the healthiest thing in the meat aisle. Kids love ’em, and preparation is minimal.
But the Cancer Project, an offshoot of the pro-vegetarian group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, wants to remind us that exposure to the nitrites and nitrates (not to mention fat and sodium) in processed meats has been linked to cancer. And the organization has produced a startling PSA to drive the point home. In it, children eat hot dogs and talk as though they’ve already grown up, discussing how their cancer is affecting their spouse and children.
The Associated Press notes that the anti-hot-dog ad has been generating controversy. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council is particularly chapped by it, calling “the new ad an alarmist scare tactic.” Natch.
The AP piece also contains the helpful information that, although the rumor that hot dogs contain animal eyeballs, hooves, and “genitals” is not true, they are allowed to contain pig snouts and stomachs (well, probably not the kosher ones), cow lips and livers, goat gullets, and lamb spleens. Fits right in with today’s vogue for nose-to-tail eating!
Posted by
| Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 2:03pm
| 5 comments
Tagged with: sausage, ap, pcrm, cancer project, hot dogs, national hot dog and sausage council, physicians committee for responsible medicine, associated press, processed meat, nitrites, nitrates, the grinder, media
« Previous Post: When Beer Goes Bad Next Post: The Foo-ture of Dining » |
As soon as the government controls your health care, the next step will be to tell you what unhealthy foods you can't eat, for the good of society.
All of those Chowhounds who want "free" health care, be careful what you wish for.
That's funny. We seem to have people telling us what to eat without the benefit of "free" health care. France has "free" health care and they can still eat foie gras and raw milk cheeses, while they're being banned in the U.S. You're going to have to come up with a better argument!
Newsflash, Ruth! America is not France!
Look, if American governmental entities are happy to ban foods *before* they start paying for your health care, what do you think they'll do *after*?
Pig stomach is one of the best meals I've ever eaten. The Mexicans call it "buche" and it was FANTASTIC.
So what that offal and scraps make it into hot dogs? Why waste the meat? An animal gave its life for us to use, let's USE IT!
The snobbery of this comment about scraps being in hot dogs is a little shocking.
That said, if you don't like the concept of scraps, there are other options. Vienna hot dogs are made from beef brisket. Hebrew National and Nathan's are both kosher- and beef only.
The first comment shows quite some ignorance. It's not the government telling people that hotdogs cause cancer (our present, hands-off Conservative won't do such a thing... in fact their cutbacks to food inspection probably led to the present listeria outbreak).
Come on, it's a pro-vegetarian group of doctors. And it's definitely not a lie that processed meats contain nitrates, which are linked to cancer.