Studies show hot dogs can cause butt cancer

It seems as though every month there are studies showing something else is causing some form of cancer. I'm not a doctor, so I generally just look around for what has been determined as the next bad thing.

It's long been known too much sunlight causes skin cancer. Recent studies have shown an excessive amount of cell phone use could be linked to brain cancer. But I have a new one for you.

Too many hot dogs can cause butt cancer. That's right, I said butt cancer.

Don't worry, I didn't come up with that one on my own. "Hot Dogs Cause Butt Cancer" is displayed in giant red letters on the Eisenhower Expressway in Chicago.

The words are accompanied by a man in a hospital gown, with a hot dog in hand looking at his backside.

I'll be honest, even at 23-years-old, the sign made me giggle. Not on account of immaturity, but shock such blunt language was displayed on a major expressway for all to see.

Well, maybe there was a hint of immaturity in there somewhere.

This anti-hot dog ad comes from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), according to an article on Fox 59's website.

A little bit more research on my part (thanks mostly to Google) took me to PCRM's website explaining why the ads are important.

Research says eating processed meats can increase your chances of getting colon cancer.

The food I was forced to eat as a child. That $.99 package of meat that I often settled on in college because I had little money.

Most importantly, this is the food we gather around the campfire with and eat. Whether it is on a stick found in the woods or a stake kept around the campground, basically everyone has cooked a hot dog over an open fire.

If you're thinking the same thing I was, I couldn't help but wonder, why do they feel the need to be so blunt? Surprisingly, they actually had a legitimate reason.

"The billboard's blunt language was prompted by a recent survey showing that a surprising number - 39 percent - of Americans do not know what the colon is," their website states.

For those of you that fit into that 39 percent, the colon is your large intestine. It is the part of your digestive tract that absorbs water from indigestible food and passes the matter out of your body through defecation.

PCRM said other processed meats, besides hot dogs, include bacon and pepperoni.

Chicago is the lucky one to get the comical billboard because they house some of the largest hot dog factories like Kraft Foods, which produces Oscar Mayer franks, Sara Lee, producer of Ball Park Franks, and Vienna Beef.

I'm not going to tell you not to eat hot dogs, but now you know it could hurt your rear end.

Sabrina is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached by email at swestfall@gcdailyworld.com or by telephone at 847-4487.