On Chicago's West Side, entrepreneur Jim Andrews runs a hot dog restaurant called Felony Franks. The restaurant employs ex-cons and boasts food with names like Misdemeanor Wieners, Guilty Gyros and of course the Felony Frank. So what's the problem? Andrews says he launched created the restaurant to give criminals who've served their time a second chance at becoming a productive member of society. So what's the problem?
A local city councilman hates the idea, hates the name and wants the restaurant gone. So he's help up the owner's application for a sign on the street, which is amazingly petty.
"For a restaurant theme, it's a poor choice," Alderman Robert Fioretti said. Even the local parish priest thinks it's a bad idea. But Andrews is determined to give ex-cons a chance to make an honest living, and the food gets good reviews. The Wall Street Journal reports on this hot dog controversy:
Felony Franks is located at 229 Western Ave. in Chicago and is open seven days a week. Business is booming and Andrews, who also runs the
Rescue Foundation, hopes to take the franchise national.
The recession may be raging but gourmet hot dogs are selling well. So, what makes a haute dog? The franks are artisan-made, the toppings are homemade and the beer is from local microbreweries. Thom Fox, the executive chef at Acme Chophouse, discusses why haute dogs are so popular at the San Francisco's AT&T park in this MarketWatch report. Take a look:
Cancer Project Warns About Cancer Risk From Hot Dogs
An organization named the Cancer Project is warning consumers that eating hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of colorectal cancer.
But hot dogs and other processed meats increase the risk of colorectal cancer and should be avoided completely, according to a landmark report on diet and cancer risk by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund. The scientists announced that when it comes to colon cancer, there is absolutely no amount of processed meat that's safe to eat.
In fact, according to researchers, just one 50-gram serving of bacon, sausage, deli meats or other processed meat (think one hot dog) daily increases our risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 21 percent.
Reuters reports that the organization has launched a billboard (pictured above) just outside of Wrigly Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball park. The organization wants warning labels placed near where hot dogs are sold.
What the Cancer Project asked in a letter to Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney dated Aug. 3, however, is for the team to place "dietary disaster" warning labels near where hot dogs are sold at the ballpark since processed meats have been linked to colorectal cancer.
"Baseball stadiums need to be frank about the cancer risk posed by hot dogs and other processed meats," Krista Haynes, a Cancer Project dietitian, said in a statement.
"Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer," she added. "Like cigarettes, hot dogs should come with a warning label that helps baseball fans and other consumers understand the health risk."
Reuters says 21 million hot dogs are expected to be sold at U.S. major league ballparks this season alone, which is why the organization is targeting ball parks.
