When eaten in moderation, hot dogs can be included in a balanced diet as they come in a wide variety of nutrition and taste formulas and are an excellent source of protein, vitamins and minerals, said AMI Director of Scientific Affairs Betsy Booren, Ph.D., in a recent letter to the editor published in the Indianapolis Star. The letter appears in response to an Indianapolis billboard and subsequent opinion column by a member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) that attacks hot dog safety.
“Susan Levin and her pseudo-medical animal rights group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and its affiliated Cancer Project are once again seizing publicity by attacking hot dogs in an effort to advance their goal to create a vegan society,” Booren wrote.
Booren noted that many studies have concluded quite the opposite of The Cancer Project's claims that processed meats like hot dogs increase colorectal cancer risk. One of the largest studies ever done on red meat and colon cancer — a 2004 Harvard School of Public Health analysis involving over 725,000 men and women — showed no relationship between meat and colon cancer. This federally funded analysis used one of the most accurate methodologies — pooling original data from multiple studies together — and found that red and processed meats are not associated with colon cancer.
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