Free Republic

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Processed meats like bacon and hot dogs are bad for your mental health, say researchers. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins, people who eat meats cured with nitrates are three times more likely to experience a manic episode. Apparently, added nitrates are associated with hyperactivity and insomnia. Researchers said experiments in rats showed mania-like hyperactivity after just a few weeks on diets with added nitrates.

PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) has erected a billboard a mile from the Allentown Iron Pigs' ballpark, comparing bacon to cigarettes and declaring: "Keep Kids Safe: Ban Bacon from Ballparks." The group has also sent letters to the Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and the Pigs' owners, Joseph Finley and Craig Stein. One letter calls for the mayor's help "asking the Iron Pigs to stop glorifying bacon." It also evokes the cigarette analogy: "The team would never pass out free cartons of cigarettes to the children of the LeHigh Valley, yet they are providing open access to bacon crumbles and...