44 // Are there any ”healthy” hot dogs
Are there any ”healthy” hot dogs?
How to handle this summertime staple in terms of your family’s health AND happiness.
Recently, I posted on Instagram asking what questions you all had and would like answered on an upcoming episode. There was a staggering number of you asking how "bad" hot dogs, kielbasa, and summer sausages are for their families, what brands of hot dogs are best to buy, and if and how often you should be offering them if at all (amidst the endless grilling opportunities of summer).
Like episode 16 on soda, this is a bit of a hot button topic. As a mom, I can relate to hot dogs (and the like) being an easy, affordable, fan favorite - especially during the summer months. But as a registered dietitian, there are a few foods I exercise more caution around offering. That's because, some foods have more evidence-based reasoning to avoid rather than to include in our diets. Hot dogs and other processed meats are among such foods.
So join me for this episode where I dive into the research and official recommendations to help you translate if, how many, and what type of hot dogs to feed your family (plus a tip on what I do with mine).
Listen to this episode of The Veggies & Virtue Podcast now!
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] Hey there and welcome to today's show. When I recently posted a question box on Instagram, wondering some of the things that you guys were wondering and wanted talked about, I was actually pretty surprised to see how many of you were asking about hot dogs, sausages Kobasa any of those summertime favorites?
[00:00:18] I guess I shouldn't have been surprised because with it being. Hot dogs, you know, you see time and time again, being posted for the choking risk that they can pose to children, specifically children under four, but something that a lot of people don't talk about honestly, is hotdogs in terms of which ones to buy.
[00:00:38] And so I had a lot of moms saying, Hey, these are a fan favorite. They're so easy. They're such like a go-to staple for social. Which ones should we be buying? And so I am gonna share with you from my perspective as a dietician and also as a mom whose kids also like hot dogs, how I recommend that we handle this, especially amongst the summer months.
[00:01:00] When they're often being offered from the grill,
[00:01:06] Hey mama, I'm Ashley. And welcome to the veggies and virtue podcast. In this podcast, you will find simple menu ideas, kitchen, organizational systems, spelled out for mom life and feeding tips and tricks that are both evidence based and grace laced. I believe that you can find flexibility when it comes to feeding your family so that you can feel calm, capable, and.
[00:01:24] Did in the kitchen as a registered dietician and Christian mom of three myself. I want you to break free from the mealtime battles and to feel equipped while feeding your kids all day long, pull up a stool at my kitchen counter. And let me pour you a cup of coffee and say a quick prayer for you. It's time to chat about the meal times messes moments and ministry of motherhood.
[00:01:46] Okay. Y'all I'm not gonna lie. This is one of those ones that sun feels a little harder to talk about because there's just a lot. Stepping on toes that can happen when it comes to subjects. Like, should you eat hot dogs? How often is it okay to eat hot dogs? What kind of hot dogs to offer your families?
[00:02:06] And, you know, parents just wanting this permission to experience food, freedom around all foods. And yet many of us are aware that there's certain foods that are not. The healthiest and while I very rarely use the word healthy on this show, I think that this episode is very similar to episode 16, where I talked about can our kids have soda, and I encourage you to listen to that.
[00:02:34] If that's one that's of interest to you, or you just kinda wanna know how I feel towards some of these hot button topics, because you'll see people on social talking about. Hot dogs from a fear mongering perspective. And you'll also see people talking about it from a realistic perspective of hot dogs are a common part of life for many families, particularly American families that know these as just something that is commonly on the menu in the summer, and particularly at social events.
[00:03:08] And so I wanna walk you through. How I kind of mentally process through this as a mom, myself, where I have a Texan born and raised husband who would live on straight meat and never a vegetable, probably if that's what I was making and whose kids very much enjoy an occasional hot dog. And so I'm not approaching this from a perfectionistic standpoint of the ideals of nutrition.
[00:03:35] If that's something that's achievable and feels attainable to your family. Then I think you'll very quickly see kind of what the best practice approach would be in terms of avoiding all processed meets for most of us, that is not realistic for a variety of reasons. And so what I wanna do today is I wanna talk through what is the recommendation?
[00:03:55] What is the recommendation? When we talk about processed meets, which includes things like hot dogs. Additionally, I want to talk through what is the reason. For that recommendation. Why is this a food that is a little bit more sensitive of a food and a little bit more specific of a food in terms of what the recommendations are towards eating it compared to let's just say other meats and poultries and seafood and things like that.
[00:04:19] Thirdly, I wanna talk about what can our response be? What is our response as. Parents as nutritional gatekeepers, as people who value food, freedom and intuitive eating and the social aspect of food, but who also want to prioritize health and nutrition and building healthy habits for a family, including what kind of foods we're offering fourth, I wanna get into what would my recommendation be?
[00:04:44] If you were asking me friend to friend. What would I do? And lastly, I am going to offer some suggestions on what I would replace a hot dog for. If that was something I chose, I was not going to offer, or I wanted to know what type of hot dog to offer. So that's what we're gonna dive into. Just so you kind of know the flow and the order for today's episode, based off of the questions I received and the phrases that families used when asking questions.
[00:05:15] Can we offer hot dogs? How often? Which ones, how do we handle that? Especially in summer when they're around us all the time. So, because this is a pretty complicated topic. I wanna go ahead and dive right in. So we have as much time as possible to talk about that. And first and foremost, I want to start out with what is the evidence based recommendation?
[00:05:37] Again? I said later on I'll share what my personal recommendation as a dietician mom. But the evidence based recommendation in terms of process meets. And again, I'm highlighting this mainly in the context of hot dogs, because that is what I got the most questions about with it being summertime and everything.
[00:05:54] But I wanna share with you what the recommendation is from the perspective of the research and a lot of very credible organizations. And that is when we look at what the world H excuse me, what the world health organization. And institutions like the American Institute for cancer research, the recommendation is to avoid process meets as much as possible.
[00:06:18] So there is not really a amount that has been considered permissible from the research. Instead what's been found is that foods like processed meats. And that includes, as I mentioned, we're gonna kind of highlight and I'll simplify it to hot dogs today, but that could be things like ham. Bacon, salami pepperoni, hot dogs, deli meat, all of these are considered processed meats.
[00:06:43] And so when we look at processed meats, what has been found is that they fall under the group one carcinogen category. And so again, from a fear mongering perspective, oftentimes you'll hear these cause cancer. I personally, don't like to use that language. I don't think that really empowers or equips you as a parent.
[00:07:00] And I know that it definitely does not reassure you that this is a healthy option to be offering your family. And yet there's an internal struggle because as I saw in many of your comments and questions, hot dogs and things like summer sausages are fan favorites for a lot of families. So I'm not here to place shame on any family that has that food pre.
[00:07:24] What I wanna do is give you the information and help equip you to make a decision that feels consistent with your family's feeding values. So the recommendation is to decrease the amount of processed meat you're eating to as close to none as possible for certain food groups like red meat. There's the recommendation that anything less than 18 ounces, a.
[00:07:51] is not as directly associated with an increased risk of cancer. So there's kind of been a permissible range for things like red meat. Again, there's health benefits with decreasing it beyond that. But from the research perspective, just as a frame of reference, you know, there, there is a range that red meat has said, you know, Hey, if you.
[00:08:14] Three ounces, six times a week or six ounces of red meat, three times a week that still falls within the range that we would consider to not necessarily be Inc or to not necessarily be associated with increased risk of cancers. This is certain forms of cancers, specifically, mainly bowel and colorectal.
[00:08:33] And so, you know, when we're looking at these forms of cancer and the form and the research on these types of cancer, what we know is the research shows that. Any amount of processed meat can increase your risk of these forms of cancer. And specifically it looks at, oh, some of the research that I'm referencing looks at about 50 grams of processed meat.
[00:08:55] So if you were eating 50 grams of processed meat per day, the amount that your cancer risk would go up and this, and I don't expect anyone to know necessarily what 50 grams is, but if we're looking at one ounce being about 28 grams, 50 grams is gonna be about two ounces. So that's gonna be like one hot dog or for some other equivalent, it'd be like two slices of deli meat.
[00:09:18] So when we look at the recommendation, that is why the evidence based recommendation is to avoid as much as. Because if two slices of deli meat a day, or the equivalent to a hot dog a day is considered too much, there is very minimal margin of error there in terms of how we can begin to. Find permissible amounts that aren't associated with an increased cancer risk.
[00:09:43] And so that is the evidence based recommendation. Again, I don't share that to scare you. What I want you to know is I want you to understand where we see eating process meat can increase your risk of things like bowel and stomach cancer. And so. With that in mind. I want us to move into the reason for that.
[00:10:01] And the reason for that is that research shows a few different things that are associated with increased cancer risk. So I mentioned things like red meat and how there is, you know, kind of a recommendation for 18 ounces or less of red meat a week. So the reason for this is that red meat is higher than things like poultry or seafood.
[00:10:21] When it comes to heme iron, you might have heard this depending on, you know, your experience with promoting iron rich foods for your infant or your toddler. But in particular, we know that a particular form of iron can lead to the production of free radicals. And ultimately some compounds that can create damage within the gut when the heme is digested and the damage that this causes can lead to cancer or increase cancer risk.
[00:10:52] A second reason is things when we focus more on processed meats are the things like nitrates and nit. Being added in order to help preserve the meat for longer so that a processed meat stays fresh for longer. We think about these meats when you're wondering what foods are processed meats. Think about those meats that can last in your fridge for a lot longer.
[00:11:15] This isn't raw chicken or, you know, raw ground beef. This is a processed meat, a thing like a. A sausage, a hot dog, even the chicken sausages or the Turkey bacons. These things have been processed. They've had these nitrates and these nitrates added so that they can stay fresh for longer. The third reason we look at here is some of the concerns that come when we cook such foods as red meat, things like a hamburger Patty or a steak or things like a hot dog or a summer sausage at high heat.
[00:11:51] because what any of us can relate to is when we're talking about things like steaks and burgers and hot dogs and summer sausages and truth, be told, even things like fish and chicken. When we are cooking these proteins at high heat, what we see is that some concert or excuse me, cancer causing compound.
[00:12:12] Can be created and you don't need to know these names. You may have heard them coming around, especially when you you know, hear this conversation come up, but heterocyclic amine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, often known as PHAs. These are compounds that again, they're not unique to red meat or process meat.
[00:12:32] However, what we do know is that when we're cooking such meats at high temperature, It can produce these compounds. And so if you look at something like a red meat or a processed meat, and you are cooking it at a higher temperature, one plus one equals two reasons why you are increasing cancer risk based off of this food, rather than something that's say like a fish or a chicken, which the research doesn't necessarily explain the difference in the risk.
[00:13:02] When they're cooked at high temperature. So if you're grilling chicken or salmon at a high heat, but there's one risk factor there versus something like a processed meat, having that nitrate or nitrate in it, or a red meat that has that hem iron in it further increasing the risk. So depending on how privy you are to the scientific information in the back.
[00:13:25] that is kind of where the rationale comes from. And those are the main reasons that we see in the research as to why the recommendation is to limit processed meat, to as close to none as possible. However, when we look at what is our response, what is our response as a nutritional gatekeeper for our household, we need to be making informed decisions.
[00:13:48] Social media can be an excellent place. The internet is an excellent informative. At times. However, my concern is, is so often we have this fear mongering that hot dogs will give you cancer. And I just think that that is a dangerous message to be putting out there because while I'm not going to be recommending that as my choice meal for a family in most situations as with anything, and as with recent episodes, I talked about with sweets and exposing our kids to the socialization of.
[00:14:18] I don't think any of us need a cupcake anymore than I think any of us need a hot dog. However, as someone who's born and raised in America, I know that those are parts of life and those are social situations that I do need, and that are important. And I anticipate your family needs and that are important to your family.
[00:14:37] So what I want you to think about in your response is how can you make an informed decision knowing this data and responding to it in a way that is health promoting. , but that is not fear mongering. And so that's really where I wanna come into what my recommendation is, how I'm gonna share with you, how I handle this in my home.
[00:14:57] You can take it or leave it and think through it as much as you want. You know, that fails fitting for your family. That feels cons St with your family's feeding values, social environment, dietary needs, and preferences. But I wanna share with you what my recommendation is based off what I do in my home.
[00:15:14] And I'll. my husband and kids. And even myself, I do like processed meats. You know, I would eat a Turkey sandwich more often. If this wasn't a concern, we like hot dogs in the summer or chili dogs in the fall when it's football season and things, you know what I mean? I'm, I'm focusing here on the processed meats, not talking about red meats or the high heat cooking as much.
[00:15:38] That's an episode for another day. But in terms of the processed meats specifically, I want. My family to have a neutralized approach towards them. You know, I don't want to tell my kids that hot, dog's gonna give you cancer. That is not an appropriate message to send our kids. And I don't believe that's an appropriate message to be bringing up at a backyard.
[00:16:02] Barbecue. When plenty of people are enjoying a hot dog. For example, the other night we had a swim team banquet. There were hundreds of families there. It was one that included dinner and the dinner was. Hot dogs in a big, you know, shafing pan. And then they had chili out and chips and cheese and baked beans and cookies.
[00:16:21] And you know, it was, it was an economical dinner for a large group in the middle of summer in Houston. I personally didn't choose to eat a hot dog because to me that was not a hot dog. was quote, unquote, worth the, the just intake of where I could eat some potato salad and some baked beans and just kind of wait and know that I'd have another snack later when we got home, that was what fit for me personally, and my own personal feeding values.
[00:16:50] My husband and kids ate a hotdog. I didn't make a thing of it. It just was what it was. However, that's also an example for why I approach things the way I do at home. And that's really limiting. How much processed meat I purchase, because I know particularly in the summer, we are going to be exposed to a lot of processed meat outside the home, and there is going to be more access to things like hotdogs when we're at other people's homes or we're at other sports banquets, or we're at other things where I truthfully don't have control over the situation.
[00:17:24] If it's something like a backyard, barbecue, or, you know, if you listen to my episode on potlucks with picky, eat. There are times and places that we have an opportunity to bring things, to contribute to a meal. In which case I probably would bring something to kind of deter my family from relying on the processed meat as one of the main staples in the meal.
[00:17:45] However, what I know I do have control over is what I bring into my home. So things like hot dogs and bacon, at least in my home are probably two of the biggest followed by deli meat. And so we do on occasion. buy hot dogs. I kind of have a few that I feel comfortable with on occasion, and I'll share those in a little bit, but those are the ones that I choose to replace the hot dogs.
[00:18:06] If we buy them that I buy them with my family likes bacon. I rarely buy it. I will buy it on occasion, but it's more intentional purchase because. I know that it's not something that I want commonly available. So instead of buying it weekly, I may buy it monthly or quarterly. So it's not an off limits food.
[00:18:28] If we go out to breakfast and my kids want bacon, I allow them to have that choice. Or, you know, if there is the choice to swap it with fruit or something else we do, it's not something that I want my kids eating daily or even weekly or even monthly, but it is something that I want them to feel is permissible at.
[00:18:46] However, if you look at the research, it really says, this is not a permissible food, avoid it as much as possible and at all costs. So to me, that means limit how much I'm buying it and bringing into the home while also equipping my kids, how to handle it in different environments. Like a backyard, barbecue, like at breakfast, when bacon is available at, you know, someone else's home or at a restaurant or things like.
[00:19:11] So my recommendation is really to limit how much you're bringing it into the home. And for my family, what that has looked like is reprioritizing what we're having instead, because depending on your family's food preferences, it's really easy to just throw hotdogs on the grill. It's really easy for bacon or breakfast, sausage to just be a mainstay in our diets.
[00:19:33] And like I said, deli meat. That is one that it was really easy and a go-to for me. Make deli sandwiches because that's what my husband preferred to take for lunch to work. And I'd rather make it for him with other wholesome ingredients, rather than him have to go spend the money on kind of a pre-made sub somewhere else.
[00:19:51] And so this has been an evolution over the years for our family and where we're at now is much more conservative than we were a year ago, three years ago, five years ago, because I've wanted this to be a gradual transition that's conducive with our lifestyle and our feeding values. But that's also sustainable.
[00:20:10] And so for us, what we've done is. Helped our we've worked as a team, but as the nutritional gatekeeper, I personally, my objective has been to reduce the amount of processed meats in our home by replacing them with other things more often. So we don't do a lot of deli meat in the home because we just have learned like other sandwiches and other of lunch offerings that don't include deli meat, or we've chose to replace deli meat with things.
[00:20:40] you know, cut up chicken for, or like a shreded chicken salad or tuna or canned salmon or some of these other. Animal-based proteins as well as incorporating more plant-based proteins, doing more things with beans and lentils and, you know, tofu and getting other sources of protein. My kids have really learned to like eggs and hard boiled eggs as a protein that we send in lunch boxes.
[00:21:05] So we're just less reliant on lunch meat, but again, when it comes down to things like hotdog specifically, I would encourage you to think about, is this something that's a priority for your family? To have at home, or is it something that you more want to reserve for outside the home and with that, if you're used to offering hot dogs or summer sausages or things like that multiple times a week, or at least once a week, my recommendation would be that you.
[00:21:35] Decrease the frequency that you're offering this and begin to include other options that fit the scenario that you need them to. You know, if you're grilling for your neighbors in the backyard and you need something, that's an economical, easy option begin finding what are some of those other economical, easy options.
[00:21:54] That aren't a processed meat and using those as kind of a replacement and to begin decreasing the frequency that you're offering, whatever that mainstay might be like a hot dog or summer sausage and find something else. Summer is a great time to be working on this, to be working on helping your children learn to like I know for a lot of families, hot dogs are love it.
[00:22:17] Food. There's no guilt and shame in that. It is what it. So let's think about, it's not that this food has to be completely removed. It's not that you have to remove it cold Turkey from your family, especially if that's one of the few love it foods that your child has. That's not how I'd recommend it.
[00:22:33] Instead, as I said, I've done in my family. I've gradually decreased how often we offer those foods as the other Lovet options have increased. So it's kind of just redistributing how often they're offered, where they're offer. And in what situations I deem it worth. What I know the, you know, the known risk with them is.
[00:22:56] And so I would encourage you to help your families learn to like other options that are satisfying social options in those scenarios that you might find yourself relying on things like a hot dog, and to begin to replace the frequency of how often you're eating a hot. So with that, I wanna speak really quickly on what are some of these replacements?
[00:23:19] Because if you go to the supermarket, you're gonna see things like uncured or nitrate, free nitrate, free hot dogs, things like that. However, something to keep in mind here is these do tend to be more expensive per unit price. And there's not research showing that these naturally occurring nitrates, which is really what is being used instead of an added sodium nitrate.
[00:23:44] What we see is something like a celery powder, or if you see salt as the second ingredient, this indicates this is a processed food and it is using salt or something like a celery salt as a natural preservative. However, from the research perspective, we still don't know how much these quote unquote uncured processed meats versus cured process meets increase our cancer risk.
[00:24:06] So I don't want you to take tremendous comfort in buying. UN uncured deli meat, or UN uncured sausage or UN uncured, hot dogs. Instead, I still would recommend that you're replacing when you would eat these foods with another food that does not have the known risk factor of something like processed meat.
[00:24:26] So if, and when I do buy hot dogs, because again, I do buy them at times I do like options and those are the ones that have very few ingredients on the back. I buy the ones that typically are I do Octa go for ones that are like a grassed. With salt and maybe some seasoning. I don't like the use of seasoning on ingredients list.
[00:24:44] For another reason I could highlight on another episode, but I would encourage some of those, like the Applegate or I buy some from Costco that are te and ranch, and I they're just a good beef, hot dog. They're grass fed beef. I can often find 'em on sale. And again, because they're a little more expensive, it does kind of deter me from wanting to offer them as often.
[00:25:08] Or in an abundance, or as we're relying on those as the option that I would offer at a social function, because now these options, while again, they still have naturally occurring preservatives being used in them. And they're still a processed meat. I do personally feel a little bit more comfortable eating them when they're just a little, fewer ingredients, more simple ingredients.
[00:25:32] And. I can find that those are just ones that we sometimes will include in our diet. However, if we are entertaining or if we are having people over, if I'm paying that price point for these more premium hotdogs or processed meats, it's not really cost effective for me to then be offering that or serving that to a group.
[00:25:52] And so my suggestion for what you're replacing. Would be something else. I would probably look to something like a poultry or a seafood or a plant-based option as like a side to accompany the meal, because now buying those options is more economical than say a pack of hot dogs. And so you, you know, if you are doing hot dogs regularly, number one, I would say, try and rotate out the frequency.
[00:26:20] You've probably heard me mention before I mention a lot in my mealtime's made easy method. That we wanna create rotations that work for our family. So if your rotation right now is to offer hot dogs several times a week, try and get it down to one time a week, introduce your family to other options. If you're buy the exact same hot dog every time, flip it over, look at the ingredients because whether you're trying to limit SOC or excuse me, saturated fat, increased protein, you know, oftentimes hot dogs are a protein that kids accept, and that can be really tricky when families don't feel like there's a lot of protein.
[00:26:54] That their child accepts, but, and it's another episode for another day as well, but your child's protein needs may not really be the priority. Instead, the priority might be on helping your child to learn to like other things like a plant-based protein or another prepared protein, like a chicken, a salmon, or a seafood or something like that.
[00:27:17] So first and foremost, decrease the amount that you're offering it as much as feels fitting for your. Second begin, swapping out the options for one that is either more natural or for something that's just an alternative in general. And see if you can begin incorporating some of these options into your diet.
[00:27:38] Most of all, I want you to feel food freedom, and that's something that. I preach here on the podcast. And then I speak about again and again and again, in my mealtime's made easy method and I wanna equip you and reassure you as a parent, that you're doing a great job. And if your kid eats hot dogs every day for lunch right now, this is not probably the episode that you wanna hear.
[00:27:58] And I understand that. And I empathize with your struggle because I know that can be so hard when your child eats hot dogs every day or chicken nuggets every day, or some of these foods that you're so reliant on. But what I wanna encourage you to do. is just make baby steps. You do not need to rip away the crutch that you have right now and that safe food.
[00:28:19] What we do not wanna do is remove a safe food from a child's love it list when there's not something to replace it with. So gradually work towards decreasing it. If you're at seven days a week, go to six days a week, gradually work on lowering their intake of this. And as. Gradually decrease it. Hopefully you will also be gradually increasing their preference for other alternatives to process.
[00:28:50] It has been a joy having you on podcast today. And if you've enjoyed it as well, I have a quick favor to ask. Do you mind hopping over to apple podcast and leaving me a written review? This will only take you a hot second. But it truly blesses me every time I get to read one of you right over there. And it allows me to bless others through this podcast and the episodes to come.
[00:29:10] The other thing that you can do is to take a screenshot of this episode and tag me over on Instagram at veggies and virtue, I would love to see what action steps that you're taking from this episode, and also to support your family in the journey moving forward until next time. Thanks for coming over to chat at my kitchen.
[00:29:26] Remember that you will always have a seat and a snack waiting for you here.
