The phenomenally popular and all-around All-American hot dog has been targeted by the Cancer Project in a series of TV attack ads. The commercial’s pro-vegetarian creators attempt to draw links between eating processed meats and disease by depicting a boy in a school cafeteria waxing morose about how he was “dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer.” My two cents? If you want to get people permanently off the dogs, show them a clip of the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest:

The boy in the Cancer Project ad doesn’t really have cancer, and the research used for the commercial is based on studies conducted on adults, not children. NPR has covered the mystery meat debate in depth on their website, which includes some interesting statistics, like this one here…

Americans as a whole eat hot dogs more than occasionally. According to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, U.S. consumers spent more than $4 billion on hot dogs and sausages last year. That includes more than 1.5 billion pounds of hot dogs and sausages bought at retail stores alone.

…as well as a breakdown of the actual chances of the average American contracting colon cancer when indulging in one hot dog per day…

For a U.S. adult, eating one hot dog daily for several years would increase the average risk of getting colorectal cancer, which is 5.8 percent, to 7 percent. On a population level, it would increase the number of people nationwide who get colorectal cancer each year from 58 per 100,000 people to 70 per 100,000.

“It’s not the kind of impact on risk that, say, tobacco smoking has on lung cancer. But on the other hand, colon cancer is one of our most common cancers, so small changes still affect a lot of people.”

Alright, so maybe the ads are a little sensational, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that processed meats aren’t the healthiest food choice, and they should definitely be taken off the school lunch menu.

takepart and check out healthyschoollunches.org, an organization that works to improve the food served in school cafeterias by educating government and school officials, food service workers, parents, and others about the food choices best able to promote children’s current and long-term health.

Related:

• New attack ad on TV, but this one covers hot dogs
• Why are hot dogs so bad for you?
• History and legends of hot dogs