Mystery Meat

This commercial stinks.

But as the Associated Press shows, it’s not necessarily true. They write:

The bottom line from several nutritionists familiar with the ad is this: Hot dogs aren’t exactly a ”health food,” but eating one every now and then probably won’t hurt you.

”My concern about this campaign is it’s giving the indication that the occasional hot dog in the school lunch is going to increase cancer risk,” said Colleen Doyle, the American Cancer Society’s nutrition director. ”An occasional hot dog isn’t going to increase that risk.”

…

The health concerns primarily come from their high fat and salt content and sodium nitrate and nitrite, commonly added preservatives and color-enhancers. Nitrate-related substances have been reported to cause cancer in animals, but there’s no proof they do that in people.

Granted, I love a Chicago dog as much as the next person, but I have the good sense to not eat them every day. Hopefully, most parents don’t feed their children hot dogs (or for that matter, other uber-processed meat like bologna) every day, but guess what, Cancer Project? Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government empowered to monitor my nitrate content. So stay out of my pantry.