Vegan wackos take swipe at hot dogs with alarmist TV ads

There are a lot of things about vegans that grate on my nerves, but the thing that bothers me the most is their zealotry. Like most left-leaning kooks, vegans follow an "ends justify the means" philosophy, and have no compunction about using hyperbole, overstatement, and, more often than not, out-and-out lies and deceit to hammer home their message.

I just found out about a new TV commercial that's being run by an organization called The Cancer Project. The worst part about it is that the ad is aimed at making kids scared of hot dogs! It shows kids eating hot dogs and has children saying that "Even small amounts of processed meats can lead to adult cancers."

The ad urges you to "find out more" at the website CancerProject.org, as though it's a public service announcement from some health agency akin to the American Cancer Society. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Cancer Project is, in fact, an offshoot of Dr. Neal Barnard's Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an anti- meat advocacy group.

How anti-meat is Barnard? He once sat on the board of the Foundation to Support Animal Protection - today, organization is better known as The PETA Foundation. Yup. Those animal rights nut jobs from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Need I say more?

The goal of the ad is simple: to get people thinking that meat is bad, even if they have to resort to using phony logic to do it.

Here's what I mean… The "logic" behind the claim made in this commercial is based on an analysis of five studies in adults by various cancer researchers. This report claims that eating 50 grams of processed meat every day for several years increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent. We're talking a hot dog a day or just five slices of bacon. Sounds scary, right? Too bad for them the research doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Although the researchers found that colorectal cancer was diagnosed in patients between three and 19 years after the study began, they didn't adequately track previous processed meat consumption… or practically any other factor, for that matter. This is junk science, and nothing more. Remember, a lot of the bad rap that hot dogs and other processed meats get is baseless.

According to Colleen Doyle, the nutrition director of the American Cancer Society, "My concern about this campaign is it's giving the indication that the occasional hot dog in the school lunch is going to increase cancer risk. An occasional hot dog isn't going to increase that risk."

You're darn right, it's not. I recently wrote to you that sodium nitrite, the chemical used to color and preserve hot dogs and other meats, has remarkably beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. In fact, nitrite salts could benefit all of the body's organs: heart, brain, lungs - everywhere the blood flows. Even very small doses of nitrate can almost triple blood flow.

And in case you're thinking to yourself, "Hey Dr. D take it easy - at least his heart's in the right place." WRONG. If you know anything about PETA and their kind, human wellbeing is way down their list in terms of importance. These wackos put animals first. This anti-hot dog campaign politics masquerading as public service.

As for me, I'll take two with chili, mustard, and onions!

(If you want to see this bunk for yourself, check it out on YouTube)

FDA issues "strong warning" about potentially deadly drug side effects

I'm sorry to report yet another half-hearted warning by the FDA in the case of a potentially deadly side effect in not one but FOUR prescription drugs used by rheumatoid arthritis sufferers - Humria, Cimzia, Enbrel, and Remicade. The drugs suppress the immune system and could expose patients to serious fungal infections.

How deadly? The FDA has received 240 reports of histoplasmosis (a serious type of fungal infection) - 12 of them fatal.

What's amazing to me is that, in spite of the fact that the fungus that causes infection is commonly found in the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, the FDA didn't even consider a temporary regional ban on the drugs in question. Instead, they've once again opted to go with the Big Pharma-friendly (and patient-be-damned) route of the "stronger warning."

I've got a warning for you - don't rely on the FDA to keep you safe.