Hot Dogs Should Carry Warning Labels, Vegan Lawsuit Contends

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Packages of hot dogs should carry warning labels to alert consumers about the

risks of colorectal cancer from eating such processed meats, according to a

newly filed lawsuit brought by a pro-vegan group.

 

 

The Cancer Project filed a class-action lawsuit in Essex County, New Jersey this

week alleging consumer fraud by some of the nation's largest hot dog makers.

Nathan's Famous, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee, Con Agra Foods which owns

the Hebrew National brand, and Marathon Enterprises are named as defendants in

the suit, which accuses the companies of failing to warn consumers that hot dogs

increase the danger of colorectal cancer.

 

The lawsuit asks a judge to force hot dog packages to include a label stating:

" Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of

cancer. "

 

Americans shelled out $3.4 billion for 730 million packages of hot dogs and

sausages in supermarkets last year, according to stats from the National Hot Dog

& Sausage Council cited in a report that appeared in The Los Angeles Times.

About 50,000 people die each year from colorectal cancer, according to the

American Cancer Society.

 

 

Hot Dog Industry Dismisses Suit's Allegations

A spokesperson for Kraft dismissed the lawsuit and its proposal for a hot dog

warning label as " unfounded " and pointed out that the all-American food has been

enjoyed by generations for longer than 100 years.

 

The group's lawsuit, however, cites an American Institute for Cancer Research

study that found excess body fat, eating red meat and processed meat and

drinking alcohol are among the factors that increase the risks of certain

cancers. The study also fingered processed meats such as bacon, sausage, ham,

and luncheon meats as foods that should be avoided, in part because they

increase cancer risks.

 

For every 1.7 ounces of hot dogs and other types of processed meat a person

consumes per day, the risk of colorectal cancer increases by 21 percent, the

study found.

 

" Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon

cancer, " says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Cancer Project, which is a

branch of the pro-vegan Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

" Companies that sell hot dogs are well aware of the danger, and their customers

deserve the same information. "

 

 

Class-Action Status Sought

The group's suit was filed on behalf of three New Jersey residents and seeks

class-action status, which if approved by a court, would allow other plaintiffs

who claim they were similarly injured by the defendants' alleged misconduct to

join the case.

 

While virtually no one is calling hot dogs health food, some nutritionists

aren't exactly ready to require stern warning labels on the popular foods,

either.

 

" If one were to call for a `black label' on frankfurters, where should the

warning label end? If we were to evaluate each food for its naturally occurring

toxins and eliminate that food, then our food plate would be empty, " said Roger

Clemens, a nutrition expert at USC's pharmacy school.

 

The group's lawsuit says nitrites, which are used as preservatives in many types

of cured and processed meats, are to blame for the cancer-causing properties of

hot dogs. Nitrites are broken down during digestion to form nitrosamines and

other N-nitroso compounds, which are thought to be carcinogens, the group's suit

states.