Doesn't everything cause cancer?

An anti-meat group (duh, could that be one of the motivations for the allegation) has filed suit in the Superior Court of Newark, N.J., calling for hot dog makers to put warning labels on the product's packages.

Kraft Foods Inc., manufacturer of the Oscar Mayer brand; Sara Lee Corp.; Nathan's Famous; and the makers of the Hebrew National and Sabrett brands are defendants in the lawsuit suited by Cancer Projects, an off-shoot of a pro-vegetarian group.

The lawsuit uses as "proof" of a link between hot dogs and cancer a report by the American Institute for Cancer Research, which concluded regular consumption of processed meat can increase the risk of colorectal and other forms of cancer.

Come on, give me a break! Doesn't everything if taken to an extreme cause some form of ill health. It seems there isn't a day that goes by when something is accused of causing high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attack, cancer or diabetes.

Is there anything one can eat, drink or enjoy that doesn't cause a health risk? It sure doesn't seem like it!

I can remember being a pre-teenager and going to stay a couple weeks every summer with my grandparents in the little town of Peru, Ind. Besides playing cut-throat Monopoly and going fishing with my grandfather and eating my great aunt's homemade sticky rolls, there were daily walks to the hot dog stand for coney dogs and root beer. I must have eaten at least 10 dogs a trip.

For that matter I still love a good coney dog (please, no onions, though) and have found some canned sauces that aren't too bad, although the best I've had in recent years was at the Parkersburg Lions Club (yes, I'm a member of the club) food booth a couple of years ago at Homecoming.

And, I can't think of going to a fair, baseball game, football game, community festival or cookout without having a couple of hot dogs .... now minus the buns because of their high carb count and affect on my blood-sugar level.

I'm sorry, but I don't smoke or drink and I watch my weight and exercise, but I'm going to die ... just as all of us are. So I'm not going to deny myself a few pleasures ... and an occasional coney dog is one of them.

The anti-meat groups and the courts can take their warning labels and put mustard and relish on them for all I care.