In an April study looking at the effects of nitrites in mice, “we have shown that addition of nitrite had a neutral, and maybe even protective effect on intestinal tumor development when part of a low-fat diet,” says Marianne Sødring, a PhD student at the Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology at Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Save on the cover price & free e-Gift card for Giftees! “This may suggest that other factors have to be present for nitrite-processed meat to have a cancer-causing effect.”, There might be an easier way to lower the risks associated with processed meat—if you’re a rat, at least. Buffalo Guys is a ranch that sells meat direct to consumer. The problem with hot dogs is how they’re processed. Will Thanksgiving Be a COVID-19 Disaster? “In people, this would translate in having a yogurt each time we get a pair of sausages.”, If you want to indulge in the occasional dog (plus or minus the yogurt), Sødring—the lone hot dog defender—has some parting words of encouragement. Hot dogs deliver a nutritional assault in many ways: one typical fast food dog with ketchup and mustard contains 290 calories and 910 mg of sodium. “Studies show that the effects of processed meats might be more harmful in people with diets that are overall low in antioxidants.” Stern analyzed the diets of 1,660 people with bladder cancer and found that bladder cancer risk went up with processed meat consumption. Write to Mandy Oaklander at
[email protected]. When shopping, read the labels. Ballgame or no ballgame, hot dogs aren’t hot in the health world, according to four of our experts. Mixed Meat: Healthiest: Boar’s Head Pork & Beef Frankfurters. They're also fairly low in sodium (for hot dogs), with only 330 mg per dog. Get nutrition information for Oscar Mayer items and over 190,000 other foods (including over 3,000 brands). Nitrates are salts added from synthetic chemicals or natural sources (such as celery juice, which you may find on the labels of so-called “uncured” or “nitrate-free” hot dogs). “However, the amounts in one hot dog may not be enough to prevent the accumulation of N-Nitroso compounds in people with diets high in meat overall, and in particular processed meats,” she says. Scientists, reporting their findings in the International Journal of Cancer, fed rats hot dogs and watched a particular biomarker for colorectal cancer; the hot dog diet indeed increased signs of this marker, but adding calcium to their diet lessened this effect. All Rights Reserved. Thin n’ Trim All Natural Gourmet Chicken Hot Dogs ‒ 230 mg sodium/link Basically unchanged. Diets high in processed meats have been linked with cancer, especially colorectal cancer. They help the meat look nice and red instead of grayish. It Was in Canada, Who Should Be TIME’s Person of the Year for 2020? “As a bonus, from an environmental standpoint, one might say that hot dogs contribute to sustainable food production,” she says, “because a much larger part of the animal, not just the prime cuts, is utilized.”. His March paper published in the journal Metabolism found that processed foods are associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes compared to red meat, probably partly due to the way that iron interacts with the saturated fat, salt and nitrates—an added preservative—found in processed meats. Hot dogs deliver a nutritional assault in many ways: one typical fast food dog with ketchup and mustard contains 290 calories and 910 mg of sodium. These hot dogs have more fat, calories, and sodium than any other on the market, and main ingredients include beef, water, corn syrup, and modified food starch; other ingredients include sodium phosphates, hydrolyzed corn protein, and sodium nitrite.