Eating Hot Dogs Equated to Smoking Cigarettes in Campaign Against Processed Meat

A nonprofit organization in the United States has started a campaign against processed meat and put up billboards warning that eating hot dogs are as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) launched its Cancer Project by raising up a billboard banner on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the message "Warning: Hot dogs can wreck your health." The billboard features a cigarette packet that is filled with hotdogs and the organization also said that processed meat should be sold with warning messages similar to those found on cigarette packs.

The campaign is based on a number of recent studies, including one by the American Institute for Cancer Research, which revealed that those who ate 3.5 ounces of processed meat every day were 36 percent more likely to suffer from colon cancer.

However the campaign has been rejected by the meat and poultry industry with the American Meat Institute stating, "Hot dogs are part of a healthy, balanced diet. They come in a variety of nutrition and taste formulas and they are an excellent source of protein, vitamins and minerals. This group's claims are on a collision course with the facts."

Source: Medindia