Poll: Should hot dog packages carry a cancer warning
If you relish hot dogs, beware. The Cancer Project so firmly believes you should fear frankfurters that last week it sued meat makers to force them to label wieners with cancer warnings.
The move comes just a few weeks after the same group caused a stir in St. Louis when it targeted baseball fans headed to the All-Star Game with an anti-hot dog billboard. The billboard, located off Interstate 70, features an image of hot dogs jammed into a cigarette pack labeled “Unlucky Strikes.”
The Cancer Project’s lawsuit was filed in a New Jersey state court against such top dog companies as ConAgra Foods, which owns Hebrew National; Kraft Foods and its Oscar Mayer division; Sara Lee, and Nathan’s Famous in an effort to make them include the notices on packages sold in the Garden State. The suit was filed on behalf of three state residents who said they had purchased hot dogs made by the companies without having been aware of the alleged scientific correlation between eating processed meats and colorectal cancer.
The suit cites a report from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund where scientists say there is no safe amount of processed meat that can be eaten, and that just one 50-gram serving of bacon, sausage, deli meats or other processed meats, every day increases a person’s chance of getting colorectal cancer by 21 per cent on average
The New Jersey lawsuit, which seeks class action status, aims to compel the defendant companies to place labels on hot dog packages that would read “Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer.”
The American Meat Institute says the suit has no merit and wants it thrown out.
“We hope the court will move quickly to review the science affirming the safety of hot dogs and processed meats and dismiss this lawsuit, recognizing it for the nuisance that it is,” said AMI President J. Patrick Boyle. “Meat products are regulated and inspected by USDA and bear the federal government’s seal of inspection, showing they are wholesome and nutritious.”
What do you think? Are hot dogs safe or do you think they should be packaged with warning labels?
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Gail writes about business, health and wine for the Post-Dispatch. She joined the P-D in 2005 after moving from NYC where she covered federal courts and wrote about food and wine. In her free time, Gail lifts weights, and of course, wine glasses. 
WHY NOT??? WHY WOULDN’T WE WANT TO KNOW THAT WHAT WE FEED OUR KIDS CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE CANCER? ST. LOUIS, YOU ARE A HOOSIER. AND A DUMB ONE, TOO.
If indeed hot dogs caused cancer we would have been told that 50 or more years ago. I rmember some scientists telling us that mother’s breast milk caused cancer. That was false. So is global warming and hot dog cancer. As the man said many years ago, don’t believe everything you read.
You know, we’re all going to die eventually, and I’d rather live to 70 eating the foods that I love, than live to 80 eating like a rabbit.
And woofy, drop the all caps. It’s rather hoosier and dumb of you.
Well, clearly, hot dogs should be banned. It’s much too dangerous to allow people to have the choice of whether or not to eat hot dogs and who’s going to be paying for their cancer down the road? That’s right. Ban all processed meats now. If we can’t live in a healthy society by choice, we’ll live in one by force.
This has got to be the most ridiculous lawsuit ever. I think we should put huge labels on cars as well. warning us of the dangers of driving an automobile. Are people getting dumber, and must be reminded that sometimes things carry some risks? Take a damn chance every now and then.
Life causes cancer. The only way to be totally protected is death. This lawsuit is ridiculous and does nothing but discredit them and their cause.
Without actually studying the reports, people are relying on others to interpret the results for them. Is it actually processed meats or could it be the lifestyle that the buyers of the meat actually have? I haven’t seen the reports, but I certainly would not rely on the courts, lawyers, and the media to explain to me what they mean. Gotta go grill some breakfast sausage! Woofy you are a hot dog so you cause cancer…so get ready for your warning label.
I saw a man nearly choke to death on a celery stick once. By using the logic presented here, ALL foods should be labelled as choking hazards. These guys have also really frightened me and I can’t stop thinking about whether the hot dog I ate last week is going to be the one that does me in. I think I might sue them for causing me undue stress, resulting in higher blood pressure, insomnia, and a host of other life-shortening ailments.
Everything, in the right amounts, will kill you. Let’s ban water because kids can overdose on it and die. Let’s ban sugar because it can lead to childhood and adulthood diabetes. Let’s ban cars because the emissions can cause cancer. Can’t eat fish, there is a high concentration of mercury. Can’t eat fruits and vegetables because there are pesticides. Can’t drink milk, increased levels of hormones.
The terrorists have won. We’re too scared to eat anything, starvation will be our death.
Ugh. Liberals wage war on everything. Lets hope the corrupt NJ judges do the right thing. Or at least get paid off by the right people.