March 13, 2012 – An outrageous, inflammatory billboard from the pseudo-medical animal rights group the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is another effort to advance the group’s goal: a vegan society.
"Hot dogs are a great Chicago tradition and part of a healthy, balanced diet. They come in a variety of nutrition and taste formulas and they are an excellent source of protein, vitamins and minerals," said National Hot Dog & Sausage Council President Janet M. Riley. "This group's claims are an effort to seek attention for their animal rights cause.”
According to Riley, many studies have concluded quite the opposite of the PCRM claims. One of the largest studies ever done on red meat and colon cancer -- a 2004 Harvard School of Public Health analysis involving more than 725,000 men and women and presented at the 2004 American Association for Cancer Research Conference - 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. http://bit.ly/zYP5bP A 2009 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of animal fat and colon cancer risk also found no relationship.. http://www.ajcn.org/content/89/5/1402.full.pdf
Other studies have reached similar conclusions. A listing of these studies may be found at http://www.meatsafety.org/ht/d/sp/i/41421/pid/41421. Background information about PCRM is available online: http://www.physicianscam.com/articles/7things.cfm .
"Consumers need a healthy balanced diet and they need balanced, credible information," Riley. "When it comes to nutrition and cancer, check with health sources such as your doctor, dietician or the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. You can be assured that they will tell you that a healthy diet can include processed meats like hot dogs alongside your vegetables, grains and dairy."
