Hot Dogs Equal Cigarettes, Says Doctor's Group

A provocative new billboard outside the Indianapolis Speedway—home of the Indy 500—claims that hot dogs are just as bad as cigarettes when it comes to health effects. The Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine, the group sponsoring the billboard, cites as justification for the billboard a study linking once-a-day hot dog consumption to a 22% increase in colorectal cancer.

Northern Virginia magazine noted that the group is closely affiliated with alternative medicine and veganism, casting doubt on its reputability. But it's hard to imagine the statement "you shouldn't eat a hot dog every day of your life" is all that controversial.

Comments

[CactusChris]

03:32 PM on 08/10/2011

Bullshit, its what surrounds the hotdog....!

[truly moderate]

12:06 PM on 08/06/2011

Everything in some way shape or form is harmful. I think this billboard is ridiculous because common sense tells you that hotdogs have a relatively high fat content so they should be consumed in moderation. Also, not all hot dogs are created equal some are better for you, some are worse.

[ToddTheDork]

06:09 AM on 08/04/2011

Thanks for the warning. Next time I light up a hot dog I'll remember this billboard and put it out.

[CaptZag Harden]

04:22 PM on 08/02/2011

Americans will eat anything that is put into hot dogs. That gives me an idea of what to do with all that nuclear waste no one wants to store..........

[Rose Elise]

08:21 PM on 08/01/2011

The ad provocatively packaging the hot dogs like cigarettes is ridiculous. It's certainly getting a message across - but cigarettes being far more addictive and dangerous than hot dogs makes this ad easily dismissable as exaggerated rhetoric. Plus, and this misunderstanding might come from being the wrong demographic for this kind of advertisement, but who eats a hot dog every day?! One or two at a bbq, sure, but every day? People are probably mixing it up with some other picnic food, like burgers or fried chicken at least...!

[illustratorblog]

10:03 AM on 08/01/2011

Then I pity the winner of Nathan's Hot Dogs eater.

[O Dannyboy]

05:57 PM on 08/04/2011

There are plenty of reasons to extend that sentiment.

[gypsysailor]

06:07 AM on 08/01/2011

Being born condems you to die is some fashion. A hot dog a day seems a little extreme, but then considering who is sponsering the ad it doesn't surprise as they don't eat meat at all. My suggestion...look in a mirror and open your mouth. See those 2 teeth called eye teeth? They are for eating meat not grass.

[cabinetmaniac]

08:03 AM on 08/01/2011

We were never meant to each much grass or meat.

A little of each is fine.

☮

[SusanElizabeth1949]

01:51 PM on 08/06/2011

Humans do not have a digestive system that can handle cellulose, so any grass eaten (other then "juiced') just 'passes through'.

[melissa anoymous]

10:32 PM on 07/31/2011

First,I hope no one eats that many hot dog's. Second they shouldn't even be allowed.We don't know what's in them or where those parts come from.I don't even let my dog have hot-dogs.

[lbsaltzman]

03:50 PM on 07/31/2011

My Doctors, including a mainstream surgeon, have moved me in the direction of a vegan diet. I now eat vegan plus a few servings of fish. I am far healthier and losing weight effortlessly. Many people won't want to hear what this article has to say, but the research supports the conclusions. Eating less animal products, particularly from factory farms, is advice that make sense.

[O Dannyboy]

06:00 PM on 08/04/2011

If the research said that eating regurgitated vegan food made you healthier yet, would you go for it?

I'm willing to stipulate before reviewing the research that it could be very helpful with weight loss.

[hugatree]

01:51 PM on 07/31/2011

Breathing is often bad for your health. Sheesh!

[Daz Frogman]

12:19 AM on 07/31/2011

It's not the meat in the dog, it's the nitrates! don't ban the hot dogs, ban the nitrates in them. they won't be neon pink anymore and you'll have to keep it like regular meat. Hot dogs now won't rot because even bacteria know better than to poison themselves. if you eat crap, you are crap

[O Dannyboy]

06:01 PM on 08/04/2011

You've obviously never seen the inside of my refrigerator's meat drawer.

Anyway, everything is crap at varying stages of the crap-recycling process known as life.

[steve11407]

08:15 PM on 07/30/2011

Nice timing. NASCAR runs their yearly event at the speedway tomorrow. I'm sure the concessionaires are thrilled.

[O Dannyboy]

06:06 PM on 08/04/2011

Well at least they held off publishing the study about pushrods and carburetors till next week.

[gr8bsn]

06:42 PM on 07/30/2011

You're dead one way or the other. Pass me the relish!

[RyanLee Spencer Billow]

02:32 PM on 07/30/2011

I don't a trust a word that comes out of the mouth of anyone who supports alternative 'medicine.'

[cabinetmaniac]

08:05 AM on 08/01/2011

That appears to be a very narrow viewpoint.

I don't trust anyone who's response to any ailment is a prescription for medication.

☮

[RyanLee Spencer Billow]

07:42 PM on 08/04/2011

Medicine works. Snake oil doesn't. Simple as that.

[O Dannyboy]

06:09 PM on 08/04/2011

Everything mnaistream was once alternative. Your position is fundamentally incoherent.

Enjoy your "medicinal" mercury and bleeding away your next headache, as you avoid the "alternatives."

[RyanLee Spencer Billow]

07:42 PM on 08/04/2011

I'll stick with what works, rather than waste money on snake oil that, at best, will do nothing and, at worst, will cause damage.

[goofygus1967]

08:14 AM on 07/30/2011

Well, if it's not one thing, it's another. I refuse to worry about this type of garbage. Eat what you want in moderation and don't worry so much. It's the anxiety that will make you miserable and shorten your life, not the hot dogs.