Group urges USDA to drop hot dogs from school lunches

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Group urges USDA to drop hot dogs from school lunches

By Dana Hull

MediaNews

Article Launched: 10/14/2008 09:22:30 PM PDT

 

 

The hot dog wars have begun.

 

Hot dogs, corn dogs, pepperoni pizza and other meals featuring processed meat

are a staple of school lunches. But now — just in time for National School

Lunch week — a vegetarian-affiliated group has launched a campaign to get meat

out of school cafeterias.

 

Alarmed by research that indicates processed meats can lead to an increased risk

for colon cancer in adulthood, the Cancer Project has petitioned the U.S.

Department of Agriculture to stop distributing hot dogs and other processed meat

to schoolchildren. The USDA oversees the federal program, which provides free

and reduced-price breakfasts and lunches to low-income students across the

country.

 

But the campaign to rid schools of hot dogs faces an uphill battle. Americans

relish their hot dogs and sausages — eating $4.1 billion worth last year.

 

" For me, my favorite is hot dogs. You can put ketchup and mustard on it, " said

Elijah Guido, 8. " If there were no hot dogs, I would probably die. "

 

More than 90 percent of Lowell's students qualify for the free lunch program. As

students stood in line, they whizzed past the celery, carrots and broccoli and

eagerly reached for corn dogs and hot dogs.

 

" I eat fruit and vegetables, " said Phuong Le, 7. " But I like hot dogs because

they have meat and it tastes good. "

 

The San Jose Unified School District has done a lot to promote healthy choices.

But Lowell Principal Jodi Lax said that

 

 

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kids regularly go for sweet or fatty foods over the more nutritious offerings. A

basket of oranges near the checkout register sat untouched.

 

" They eat the sweet, fatty foods first, and then they're too full to eat the

rest of their lunch, " said Lax, who bemoans the presence of chocolate milk in

school cafeterias. " And hot dogs are popular. My own kids wanted hot dogs this

weekend. Isaid, 'Really? Are you sure?' "

 

California schools serve 4 million meals as part of the federal lunch program

every day; most of the food comes from outside vendors that contract with the

USDA, so schools have little control over what is served. The School Nutrition

Association says that the " science behind the calls to eliminate processed meats

from schools is far from conclusive " and maintains that " lean meats and other

proteins are an important part of balanced school meals. "

 

The Cancer Project, which advocates for cancer prevention through nutrition

education, is an affiliate of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

(PCRM). PCRM promotes a vegetarian and vegan diet.

 

The campaign to ban hot dogs infuriates the American Meat Institute, which also

operates the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. The organization, which

represents major hot dog producers such as Oscar Mayer and Ball Park Franks,

says the campaign is alarmist and not scientifically sound, arguing that other

studies have shown no link between meat consumption and colon cancer.

 

" The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is an animal-rights

organization, and their objective is a vegan society, " said Janet Riley,

president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council and the group's " Queen of

Wien. " Riley says the group's video ads, which feature a child saying he has

colon cancer, is spreading fear. " My 8-year-old son now thinks that hot dogs

cause cancer, and it's appalling and misleading. "

 

The Cancer Project cites the American Institute for Cancer Research, which has

advised consumers " to reduce your cancer risk, eat no more than 18 oz. (cooked

weight) per week of red meats, like beef, pork and lamb and avoid processed meat

such as ham, bacon, salami, hot dogs and sausages. "

 

The National Cancer Institute says that red meat and processed meat are

associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, but says that more

research is needed. NCI says the increased risk may be " due to the iron and fat

in red meat, and/or the salt and nitrates/nitrites in processed meat.' "

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius