A new release by the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says the processed meat in hot dogs carries a cancer risk on par with cigarettes, USA Today reports. True? Well, there’s something you should know about the PCRM first.
Although hot dogs are definitely not the gourmet snack of the health conscious vanguard — and pack a hell of a lot of sodium, which all doctors agree is dangerous — most docs still think dogs in moderation are OK. Just like most other things that are bad for you.
But the PCRM isn’t just a group of doctors. They’ve got an openly pro-vegan agenda. Which isn’t wrong. But they’ve also been repeatedly accused by the American Medical Association of distorting the facts as a means of promoting this agenda. Which is wrong.
Telling Americans to eat fewer hot dogs is a good thing. Less sodium means less heart disease. But equating a baseball snack with an inhaled load of toxins — and saying dogs should carry cigarette-style warning labels — seems to fall in the probably a distortion of the facts category.
Now the PCRM isn’t just making this all up. The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research have found that the processed meat found in foods like hot dogs can increase your risk of colorectal cancer by 21 per cent — if you eat a hot dog literally every single day. Which, Christ, I really hope you aren’t, for a variety of reasons. [USA Today]
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