What ever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on the 4th of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks?<\/p>\n
According to USDA\u2019s Meat & Poultry Hotline, this year\u2019s top threat is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and Salmonella bugs lurking in hamburgers and hot dogs at backyard barbecues. The Hotline\u2019s advice is to grill them longer and hotter. They don\u2019t bother to mention that high-temperature grilling of meat products also forms lots of cancer-causing compounds. And who knows what they really put into those hot dog casings in the first place?<\/p>\n
Luckily, a bunch of enterprising U.S. food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious and convenient veggie burgers and soy dogs. These plant-based foods don\u2019t harbor nasty pathogens or cancer-causing compounds. They don\u2019t even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs or pesticides. And they are waiting for us in the frozen food section of our supermarket.<\/p>\n
This 4th of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.<\/p>\n