Three New Jersey residents plan to file a lawsuit today that could put the staple of the great American backyard cookout -- the hot dog -- on the same path as the once romanticized puff on a cigarette.

Pointing to "landmark" research showing a heightened risk of colon cancer in people who consume processed meat, the class-action lawsuit in state Superior Court in Newark will target the makers of Nathan's, Oscar Mayer, Ball Park, Hebrew National and Sabrett franks as if they were Big Tobacco.

The plaintiffs want labels on hot dogs to read, "WARNING: CONSUMING HOT DOGS AND OTHER PROCESSED MEATS INCREASES THE RISK OF CANCER."

"We view this just like the tobacco litigation," said Dan Kinburn, the plaintiff's lead attorney and general counsel for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "There is now a scientific consensus that processed meats are a significant cause of colorectal and other forms of cancer."

Not so fast, said Janet Riley of the American Meat Institute and the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

On Tuesday, she challenged the assertions by the nonprofit Cancer Project, which is filing the lawsuit on behalf of the New Jersey residents, and its affiliate, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

"They're an animal rights group," Riley said. "Their solution to every possible illness is vegetarianism. Their objective is to end meat consumption, period. ... It's a very selective use of the science to further their animal rights agenda."

The lawsuit is based on a "landmark" 2007 American Institute for Cancer Research report, based on 58 scientific studies, showing that the daily consumption of one 50-gram serving of processed meat (about the amount in a single hot dog) increases the risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 21 percent, according to the Cancer Project. About 50,000 people die each year from colorectal cancer.

The findings would seem to run counter to a bevy of studies, including a 2004 federally funded Harvard School of Public Health study finding no link between meat and colon cancer, provided by the meat-industry arm. What's more, the meat institute's Riley said, the chemical preservative nitrites cited as harmful are found in abundance in vegetables.

"It's such a minor source of nitrites," Riley said.

The lawsuit -- filed on behalf of John O'Donnell of Voorhees, Ruthann Hilland of Westville and Michele De Scisciolo of Emerson -- asserts that processed meat contains "appreciable amounts" of human carcinogens, such as nitrites and compounds such as N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, many of which don't occur naturally in food.

In 1987, California listed NDMA as a human carcinogen, putting the defendants "on notice," according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit names Kraft Foods Inc., maker of Oscar Mayer franks; Sara Lee Corp., maker of Ball Park franks, ConAgra Foods Inc., maker of Hebrew National, Nathan's Famous Inc.; and Marathon Enterprises, maker of Sabrett.

The defendants referred calls to the industry group, declined to comment or did not return calls.

Reached Tuesday, De Scisciolo, one of the plaintiffs, said she learned about the issue via an e-mail alert from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and decided to step forward.

"I didn't know about hot dogs causing cancer," said the 26-year-old accounts payable manager. "I think people have the right to know. ... On cigarettes, they put a warning label."

The lawsuit asserts consumer fraud, specifically omitting information about the "known risks," and demands mandatory warning labels and signs on packaging and websites in the face of the "most comprehensive body of evidence" yet.

"The situation is similar to the link between the smoking of tobacco products and lung cancer," the lawsuit says. "While all the molecular events linking the smoking of tobacco to the development of lung cancer are not known, the link cannot be disputed."

The plaintiff's attorney, Kinburn, said the lawsuit was to be hand-delivered at 9 a.m. today to state Superior Court in Newark. He foresees a long court fight.

"I expect it to be very hard-fought litigation," he said, "And I'd be surprised if we got to trial in less than two years."

Neal Barnard, president of the Cancer Project, conceded that his group supports "plant-based diets" but also noted that he comes from a family of ranchers.

"As time goes on, you realize what you're raising contributes to cancer," he said. "Everybody knows in the scientific world of that risk. When you bring your 7-year-old daughter to a baseball game, and they're selling you something she puts into her mouth, you should know about the risks."

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