The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., launched an advertisement near Indianapolis Motor Speedway that reads “Warning: hot dogs can wreck your health.”

Passers-by may mistake the sign as yet another antismoking advertisement at just a glance, as it depicts a cigarette packet filled with sausages.

The logic behind this disputed warning is the fact that consuming one 50 gram serving of processed meat on daily basis may increase the chance of colorectal cancer by 21 percent, as revealed by American Institute for Cancer Research.

This amount equals one hot dog, the PCRM said. Other potential health problems included in the popular fast food are diabetes, heart disease and other types of cancer, it added.

“A hot dog a day could send you to an early grave,” Susan Levin, PCRM’s nutrition education director, said via the organization’s webpage.

"Like cigarettes, hot dogs should come with a warning label that helps racing fans and other consumers understand the health risk.”

 

By Kang Yoon-seung
(koreacolin@gmail.com)
Intern reporter
Edited by Rob York