That was just on the local news too. In the middle of the report, they had a cut in with a guy putting the paper in perspective, explaining that eating a hot dog a day would raise your risk of cancer by 1%. We already know the information in this survey and someone on the report called it alarmist. Yes, you should not eat bacon for breakfast, a hot dog for lunch and a steak for dinner as your standard workday diet. That's not news. Have a carrot.

It's been known for a long time that the chemicals used in processed meats are carcinogenic, not to mention the bad fats that usually go along with them. So this is no surprise, but I'm glad it's getting some attention.

The recent trendiness of bacon has surprised me though. Yes, it tastes good, but what a price to pay.

Watchmelol, I have to say something in defense of people who don't eat this or that because I'm one of them. Trust me, we're not all anxiety ridden, nervous individuals.

Allergies seem to be on the rise, and I've read a couple of theories on why that might be true. Growing up, I had no food allergies. I'm proud that I raised my children to be adventurous eaters. My family has always loved Asian food and other ethnic dishes. There wasn't a picky eater in the bunch of us. But in my 30s I developed a dangerous allergy to potatoes, and as I got older that was followed by other foods containing solanine: peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and others. Solanine is a poison. It's present in some vegetables in such small quantities that most bodies can handle it without a problem. Mine cannot.

I have to avoid several other foods as well, but I don't want to make this a long post. Suffice it to say that you would find it no fun to dine with me. And probably vice versa. :-)

My daughter has celiac disease and can't eat gluten. Plus she's allergic to shrimp. And she's an avid skier and endurance cyclist--one of the least nervous people I know.

Alisande of course I don't mean people with real allergies or diseases or medical sensitivities to food. Some people simply have sensitive digestive systems and those should be respected also.

Food fear is a cult around here and orthorexia nervousa abounds. I am talking about people who fear food simply because they heard it was bad or that eating some other way would "cure" their diabetes etc. I know one woman who has gained about 40 unhealthy pounds in the last year because she "avoids" carbs. So she eats bacon cheeseburgers without the bun and swimming in mayo. She thinks she is avoiding diabetes this way. Someone doc told her she may be "pre-diabetic" one time. When asked what her sugar levels are she doesn't know. (head slap) Then there are those who aren't celiac, aren't reactive to gluten in any manner but have decided all gluten is evil. They have no idea what gluten is or does, which foods actually contain it, just that it is "bad." So they ask the server if menu items have gluten in them. Server can say anything and they wouldn't know the difference. I don't think the rest of the country realizes how many food fetishists we have here in the land of fruits and nuts. But they are everywhere and it is impossible to go out to a simple diner with them. I call it as I see it. Mental illness.

watchmelol- I had to chuckle at your first comment as it reminded me of something often said around my house.

*picks up an item with a label that says "this contains one or more thing known to the state of California to be carcinogenic". Laughing, followed by, "well good thing I'm not in California!!"

"Food fear is a cult around here and orthorexia nervosa abounds"

Yes indeed. I have a such a person in my family, fortunately not my immediate family. She drives herself and everyone else crazy, never realizing that the things she used to avoid like the plague she now eats regularly. Like eggs. And the opposite happens too. Common sense is out the window for too many. As watch me suggests, it's implausible that so many people are SUDDENLY allergic to so many different things. That's a polite way of saying that for many, it ain't so.

But as with the common sense comment, the unhealthiness of processed and red meat isn't controversial. It's easy enough to avoid eating sausage, other processed meats and red meat and eating more fish and poultry instead.

So enjoy a fried bologna sandwich occasionally on rye with lettuce and tomato/

Me? Haha, not anytime soon.

This information today is old news. Many people are evolving away from meat. I was raised on it and fed it to my kids too. About 30 years ago, I stopped eating it and on their own, my kids did too. My kids have the craziest vegetarian diets with interesting food. Certainly hasn't hurt them because my daughter will run her 15th marathon in Boston in April, her 4th Boston, and my son is ranked in the top five mountain bicyclists on the east coast. And I walk three miles every day and then run two on the treadmill at 6 mph, and I'm not a young chick, for sure.

Just saw a commercial. The parents are so proud of themselves for serving organic soup. "At least we know what he's eating." In the back ground the kid is licking a glue stick.

We eat our fair share of many different kinds of meat but processed meat, other than bacon, just doesn't make it into the shopping cart very often. Never buy 'lunch meat', but like bratwurst and a good hotdog once in awhile. We make our own bulk breakfast and Italian sausage with herbs and spices.

We love bacon, but I find that a very little of it goes a long way but offers big flavor and crunch.

We have bacon and eggs every Sunday morning. And OJ. And a piece of coffee cake. And coffee with *cream*. I buy some ham once in a while for sandwiches. DH likes an occasional hot dog in summer. No 'lunch meat' (AKA mystery meat). I broil steaks, lamb chops, etc. No grilling.

When I say we have bacon, that's two strips each, not the half pound our UK-born friend *used* to eat for breakfast daily, along with 'bangers' (sausages) and six eggs. Then he tested positive for Type 2 diabetes. He reformed his diet and got off medication. He looks a lot better, too.

My grandmother had oatmeal and two poached eggs on toast every morning and lived into her nineties.

Most of the news reports centered on defending the financial stability of meat industry. It isn't overt, but each time one of these reports come out the media is especially quick to calm down the speculators and investors - as well as consumers.

The result of such efforts, and this perspective in general, is a lack of nuanced social discussion.

For example: The study explicitly stated that there wasn't enough information to draw a distinction between naturally cured meats and those which were preserved through chemicals. Unfortunately, because most every news report ended with a meat-friendly nutritionist soothing the fears of the listeners, there will be no calls to hurry efforts in discovering if the more expensive, less chemically intensive methods of meat preservation are perhaps, healthier.

I get so tired of all the Chicken Littles running around touting unsubstantiated fears and all too often their "documentation" is dubious to false but it gets their name in the news for their 15 min of semi-fame. If it is true, it's time to thin the herd a bit anyway IMO. :)

Watchmelol, I was reading some magazines while waiting for hubby at his ophthalmologist. Orthorexia nervousa is a made-up word for fear-mongering. People avoiding the latest food, or jumping onto the latest band-wagon.

We actually went out for breakfast this morning and I had sausage and eggs, hubby had a BLT. I asked the owner if this news scared people off this morning. She said it usually lasts a day then people come in as usual. Hubby said that it was too bad Kale didn't make the news as being bad for us. LOL

I commented that if I were to avoid red meat as suggested, that leaves chicken.....which is pretty much always "seasoned" which is injected with salt water to increase the weight, and fish, which we are to avoid because of the mercury.

Vegetables, well they are GMO or sprayed with insecticides. What to do? I'm just going to eat the way that I always do. I enjoy a sausage periodically, chicken, and beef. Bacon, perhaps 2-3 times per year. And now the slices are so thin they are virtually transparent, and very hard to peel off of each other.

If one were to adhere to all the fear mongering with respect to food your diet would consist of dark chocolate, red wine and, depending on who paid for the latest study, coffee.

jasdip, most seafood can be eaten without concern about mercury. Unfortunately, it's some of the more popular large fish - like tuna and ahi as found in sushi - that needs to be limited. But only limited, not avoided. Online guidance is easy to find.

Products like shrimp, salmon, scallops, clams, oysters, squid, haddock, mackerel, pollack, anchovies, and on and on can be eaten every day if you wanted.

Snidely, can you say more about that and why there is a difference between tuna and shrimp re mercury please?

See the link below for a page from Consumer Reports that has concise information and do's and don't's. . Be sure to click on the links under the video - The Great Fish Debate - Safer Seafood Choices - etc, for good information.

It's explained at the bottom of the linked page, but briefly, mercury exposure is cumulative. The larger the fish, and the longer it lives, the more mercury it accumulates from the fish it eats.

Low mercury seafood types are that way because they are short-lived, lower in the food chain, and/or don't eat the higher contaminated species for their own food.

Consumer Reports guide to fish

I remember they mentioned eating bacon and coffee together for breakfast and my mother had that every morning for breakfast and she said I have to give up what I love. And I remember them mentioning weiners and so the scouts and those groups were not allowed their hotdogs and what a huge protest there was. The environment is causing alot of health issues. Frozen foods, why do'nt you talk about them, look at how many survive on frozen meals and they aren't good for you, can cause health issues like cancer of colon, etc, the chemicals are so bad.Why don't they give us good foods without all these horrible chemicals that are causing these health issues in our lives, so many of us have them and they won't get better. And eating fruits and veggies, look at how the spray foods and we get foods brought in from countries that use stuff on them we haven't for long time. They pulled years ago sprouts from our stores due to fecal matter found on too much. Bring back our farmers and growers that will grow good safe foods for us to eat, that is what we want and need in our lives, good safe foods.

kathy