How Great Is "The Great American Hotdog"?

On the Fourth of July alone, Americans consumed 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles more than five times!

In total, Americans will consume seven billion hotdogs this year, but at what cost? According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, eating just one hot dog a day raises your risk for colorectal cancer by 21%! That is because when heated, nitrates and nitrites in processed meats combine with amines to form nitrosamines, which have been proven to be carcinogenic.

Hot dogs pose another danger for your child. They are responsible for 17% of all choking cases among children, killing about 80 children per year.

Hot dogs are extruded from a ground-up concoction of pork, beef and chicken scraps, including fatty tissues, skin, animal feet, heads, blood and other “edible” slaughter by-products.

To make hot dogs “safe” and palatable, binders, fillers, flavorings and preservatives are added, including spices, corn syrup, nitrates, MSG and other chemicals.

If you are going to eat hot dogs or other processed meats, there are a few considerations that may help you reduce your risk of adverse health effects. These options are not ideal, as these meats are still processed, but the following guidelines will ensure you are consuming a product that is better than the vast majority of processed meats on the market:

1. Look for “uncured” varieties that contain NO nitrates.

2. Choose varieties that say 100% beef, 100% chicken, etc. This is the only way to know that the meat is from a single species and does not include byproducts.

3. Avoid any meat that contains MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, artificial flavor and artificial color.

4. Ideally, purchase sausages and other processed meats from a small, local farmer that makes those products right on the farm, so you can ask about the ingredients.

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