A billboard located near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway displays a cigarette pack with a hot dog sticking out of the package. The words “Warning: Hot dogs can wreck your health” clearly displayed. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) sponsored the warning. The PCRM is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 and works to promote preventative medicine and encourage higher standards for ethics and effective research. The billboard’s message was targeted at the population group who attend Indianapolis 500 races.
According to the PCRM, in 2010, over 1.1 million hot dogs were sold at the Indianapolis 500 races. This is concerning to PCRM because studies at the American Institute of Cancer Research shows that consuming 50-grams of processed meat each day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 21%.
The hot dogs that are offered at the race are about 50-grams of processed meat.
Additionally, processed meats have been attributed to increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other types of cancer. Some activist groups are working to have warning labels on hot dog packages, similar to those on cigarette packages.
In the U.S. about 143,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer and about 53,000 people die from the cancer each year.
Processed meat consumption has also been connected with increased risk of prostate cancer. By consuming an extra 10-grams of processed meat each day the risk of prostate cancer increases by 10%.
Additionally, there have been studies that show that high processed meat consumption in children can result in developing leukemia, ovarian cancer, and diabetes type 2.
Thus the billboard is a small reminder to people to think about what they are eating and effects it might have on them in the future.
