Can Hot Dogs give you Cancer?
In 1976, I was a student at McNeese University, in Lousiana, working on my degree in Microbiology.
I wrote a term paper on "Cancer, Causes and Effects", and I was reminded of that recently when I recently read a news article on some of the different causes of Cancer.
There was a ton of evidence that one of the preservatives, nitrate, was converted to your body to nitrites.
While working on my term paper, I found a number of studies (remember this was in the 70's) that suggested a link betwen cancer and the nitrite. (I also found some ofhe other ingredients that was allowed by FDA, like how much rat feces was allowed, but that's another story.)
The reason why Hot dogs contain nitrites was initially to combat botulism, but now they are used to retain the color that is so appealing. In return for them looking so nice, hot dogs with nitrites give us cancer of the oral cavity, urinary bladder, esophagus, stomach and brain.
Now hot dogs are not the only culprit. Any preserved meats with nitrites in them carry the same risk. For example, I was the grocery store, and found the sliced meats of a major brand had both nitrates and nitrites. It's also in Bacon, along with a lot of other processed meats.
The article I read was when some researchers studied childhood cancer in Colorado, and discovered that children born to mothers who consumed hot dogs one or more times per week during pregnancy has about double the risk of developing brain tumors. On top of that, children who ate hot dogs one or more times per week were also at higher risk of brain cancer.
I know kids like hot dogs, so how can you let them eat something that will kill them?
Examine the label, and only buy Nitite free Hot dogs. They are not as popular, as they don't have that red collor, they are more of a brownish color. When cooked, nitrite-free hot dogs are perfectly safe and healthy.
If they insist on the red ones, here's some alternatives you can do:
Make sure you kids don't eat more than four hot dogs per month.
Preganant mothers need to do the same.
Check with your local school board and find out whether children are being served nitrite hot dogs in the cafeteria. If they are, request that they use only nitrite-free hot dogs.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from a dreaded disease like cancer, aids, or diabetes, please watch this video for some important information
