The next time before you biting that innocuous-looking hot dog, beware you may be at danger as studies have revealed that it can cause colorectal cancer.

According to the findings of a landmark report from the American Institute for Cancer Research, based on 58 separate scientific studies, showing that just one 50-gram serving of processed meat (about the amount in one hot dog) consumed daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 21 per cent. Every year, about 150,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer; approximately 50,000 die of it.

In March, the National Cancer Institute published a study of more than half a million people showing that red and processed meat intake is associated with a higher risk of dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Meanwhile, a non-profit organisation in US ‘Cancer Project’ has filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against the companies for not warning about hot dog causing cancer. The lawsuit seeks to compel the companies to place cancer-risk warning labels on hot dog packages ‘Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer’.

“Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer. Companies that sell hot dogs are well aware of the danger, and their customers deserve the same information,” Cancer Project argues.