A health advocacy group has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop allowing processed meats to be served to children through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit representing 12,000 doctors, filed the petition Wednesday, Oct. 27, with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. It asks the USDA to encourage schools that offer processed meats—including hot dogs—to offer alternatives products.
The move followed the release of a new World Health Organization study that connects the consumption of processed meats with a higher risk of cancer. The report concluded that such familiar school-cafeteria items as hot dogs, pepperoni, bacon, sausage, and deli meats are “carcinogenic to humans.”
“The National School Lunch Program should help create carcinogen-free cafeterias. Keeping hot dogs, pepperoni, and other USDA processed meat commodities off school lunch trays is a step in the right direction,” Susan Levin, director of nutrition education for the Physicians Committee, said in a statement.
The foodservice industry has often been at odds with the Physicians Committee over controversial matters like banning sugared soft drinks. The group has frequently been blasted by restaurant-industry lobbyists as having an anti-meat agenda.