I’ll Have a Not Dog

By James Keough

When hot-dog eating champion Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi devours a few score franks, he comes out a winner—unless, of course, you count a recent study out of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Researchers there found that chemicals used in the manufacture of hot dogs caused salmonella bacteria to mutate, which could potentially cause colon cancer in humans. Not surprisingly, the American Meat Institute Foundation fired right back, claiming the study didn’t reflect real-world cured meat processes and that it “used an extremely high level of nitrate.” That said, suddenly a veggie burger sounds like a mighty good alternative.