Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Kuma's has really gone downhill. It's not just the wait, or even the replacement of the delicious hand cut fries with frozen waffle fries, even the burgers have deteriorated in quality. They lost one of their chefs (the guy who did the Fu Machu burger, hence it no longer being on the menu). Things haven't been the same since. The last two times I've gone in there the burger was over cooked (I order medium rare and there wasn't a hint of pinkness), and so over salted that I literally felt ill by the time I was done eating it.
Damn shame this happened to a place that just two years ago I would have sworn up and down was the best burger in Chicago, and one of the best in the country.

Everything that we eat, drink and breathe can cause cancer.
(pesticides, hormones, pollution.
We need to eat, drink and breathe but we do not need to smoke
Get the picture?

Eating anything unhealthy every day increases risk of...death! Be it by cancer or heart disease, it's always a good idea to balance unhealthy foods with either healthy foods or...exercise! Tell those fatty kids to get off their asses.

I don't eat hot dogs because I think they are disgusting, but there are also some pretty scary studies about soy. Maybe all those veggie dogs and burgers need a warning label as well.

@hmw0029- Thanks for the feedback. Yes, my articles that I chose are old, but the general information from it is still relevant.

Though I had difficulty getting the first two articles that you prescribed, I did have the opportunity to read the last article.

You are correct in saying that nitrites have a very little chance of changing into the destructive nitroso compounds; however, I think the abstract that you read is misleading. If you read the discussion and conclusions of the article, it states that the combination of nitrites and hemin increases the likeliness of colon cancer. It is not just hemin alone. Nitrites are a precursor to carcinogenic compounds, but that does not mean that all nitrites will become cancerous. It is the presence of the hemin that quickly changes the nitrites into carcinogens.

While looking up more recent articles for my edification, I stumbled upon a very fascinating article: Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008, 42 (4), pp 1032–1037

It states that these nitroso compounds are in hot tubs, pools, and the like. Nonetheless, there is not any conclusive evidence that hot tubs cause bladder cancer.

Is there a connection between cancer and nitroso compounds? Yes, but there is no concrete evidence that being subject to its precursors will make you sick. And really, what determines if one becomes sick or not? Not all people that are overweight have health problems, but they are more likely to be sick. In the same way, not all precursors will cause cancer, but there is some risks associated with eating nitrites.

As to the question posed in this blog, I'm not sure if we should put warning labels, but I hope people become at least a little more aware of what is going on chemically when they are eating. Sure you can eat hot dogs and bacon, but don't eat it every other day. You can die from just about anything if you have too much of it. (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/sports/othersports/20marathon.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=death%20too%20much%20water&st=cse)

the head of the legal team promoting this lawsuit was on the radio this morning in Chicago (WGN) He stated their agenda as being to promote veganism, not cancer prevention. The radio host stated that in an off the air conversation, the lawyer stated that this was a way for their cause to get multiple years of press promoting veganism while it was tied up in court, and they had no hope of winning, just bleeding the companies with large legal fees. Fine them for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

According to procedures established by USDA, nitrosamine testing required products to be cooked at a minimum of 350 degrees F. This is the ideal temperature for formation of nitrosamines. This is why grilled and griddled meats are of concern as promoting carcinogens. Nitrosamines can form at low temperature, but usually require a protein source and a catalyst, usually something acidic. This is a reason Spice blends for cured meats are not allowed to contain nitrites or nitrates, upon storage the amino acids in the protein can react and for nitroso compounds.

Regulations regarding manufacturing cured meats underwent huge changes almost 40 years ago when the concerns were first realized, and levels of use for nitrites and nitrates were evaluated and regulated to minimize the possibility of forming these components. many of the studies people are citing pre date this work, just like people think The Jungle is a factual documentation of today's meat industry, even though it is a fictional work that predates the original Federal meat inspection act which is over 80 years old.

Suck it, hippies.

oh, so the vitamin C used to accelerate the curing process should do the same thing then? Carcinogens are carcinogens, poisons are poisons, the body doesn't distinguish if it is natural or chemical. And the levels of nitrites used in meats are far lower than occurs naturally in white onions and celery. I once saw a natural label on rat poison, does it make it better for you than a chemical rat poison? If you consider Nitrites carcinogens, all sources should be labeled, natural or not, just like allergens are now required. If you restrict one food because of the levels, all products with similar levels should similarly be restricted.

As for not costing anything to remove Nitrites, what is the cost of a case of botulism, or the recall of a days production of hot dogs due to botulism? Nitrites are not added as color, they are added for FOOD SAFETY, they prevent botulism. Vacuum packaged foods can harbor botulism, dry aged meats can harbor botulism, that is why they are cured, not to make them pretty pink. The color is a reaction removing free iron (which C. botulinum needs to survive) from the meat.

As human nutrition studies are uncontrolled, it is difficult to provide the information needed to determine real facts, causes and effects.Perhaps the doctors funding this lawsuit should look at the Vietnamese study released a couple weeks ago where they discovered vegans had a lower bone density than people eating a meat containing diet.

Did the people in the study, eat the hot dog with onions or celery salt, maybe it was THEIR Nitrates and not the ones from the hot dog. Did they account for the effect of the condiments on the development of Cancer? did Ketchup with its Lycopenes from tomato reduce the risk? Did they have standard pickle relish or the Chicago day glo green relish? I think these are important questions as to the relevence of the study.

A 21% increased risk is, from what? .01% chance to 0.0121%?

I think we need one big warning label to place on all foods. Eating causes death. Not eating causes death faster.

Saying that a risk increased by 21% or 67% sounds a lot more frightening than it is, even if the statistic is undeniably true. It doesn't mean that 21% or 67% of the people will get the disease. If the risk is low to begin with, an increased risk is still a small chance of getting the disease.

If the risk increased by 100% it means you're twice as likely as someone else. So, if the initial risk is one in a million, now you're at 2 in a million. Probably not the best lifestyle choice, but if you eat the equivalent of a hot dog a day, every day, for the amount of time required (and I'm betting it's years) then you're probably not eating a very healthy diet overall. So the risk of a whole lot of things is going to go up.

If someone has a high risk of cancer because of family history or other risk factors, compounding the problem isn't wise, I'm sure. But if your overall risk is low and you aren't living exclusively on hot dogs and bologna and salami, it's not as frightening as they make it sound. Even if the stats are true.

And unless I'm remembering it wrong, saying that there's a 50% risk of something is not the same as saying there's a 50% chance of it happening. Just because you're "at risk" for something, it doesn't mean that it will happen. It just means that you are more at risk for the event than someone else who may have no chance at all of it happening.

No matter what you eat or don't eat, you're going to die of something eventually. When the average lifespan was a lot shorter, fewer people died of cancer. Because they died of something else, first.

It's the nitrites that may be causing the cancer. Just buy lunchmeat and hot dogs without nitrites. Trader Joe's has them at prices that are reasonable.