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Hold that frankfurter, pal.
A national vegan advocacy organization Wednesday filed a class-action lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court against five hot dog manufacturers, including ConAgra Foods Inc., asking that they be ordered to attach warning labels to their packaging.
The Cancer Project, based in Washington, D.C., said in the lawsuit that a study by the American Institute for Cancer Research showed that the daily consumption of hot dogs and other processed meats can increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer by as much as 21 percent.
Other manufacturers named in the suit, filed on behalf of three New Jersey residents, are Nathan’s Famous, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee and Marathon Enterprises.
The Cancer Project wants packages of hot dogs to carry the following words: “Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer.”
ConAgra’s Hebrew National hot dogs are served at 14 major league baseball venues, more than any other brand, according to the company.
Officials for the Omaha-based company declined to comment and referred questions to Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council who calls herself the “Queen of Wien.”
The filing is a nuisance lawsuit, Riley said, adding that she expects the Newark court to promptly dismiss the case.
According to the National Cancer Institute, about 150,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year and 50,000 die from the disease annually.
“Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer,” Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Cancer Project, said in a press release. Riley said comparing hot dogs to cigarettes was “absurd.”
“Other than pleasure, (cigarettes) offer no benefit to your health,” she said. “I am the mother of two kids, and if I had any safety concerns, I would not be feeding (hot dogs) to my children.”
Ryan Slane, general manager at Rosenblatt Stadium, said baseball fans there consume around 100,000 hot dogs every season, mostly during the College World Series.
This story contains material from the Associated Press.
Contact the writer:
444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com
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