A new report on medpagetoday.com tells of a person who came down with a disease called “Popcorn Lung.” You may have read or heard about it a few months ago. Â Back then it focused on factory workers at plants packaging the microwave popcorn, who were coming down with a serious lung ailment with the scientific name bronchiolitis obliterans. In this case its a one of us, a popcorn consumer, who has come down with the illness.?
I am usually not an alarmist, no formal studies have been done, but I’m throwing out all of my microwaveable popcorn. No need to risk this one. Â I’ll run out to the supermarket and pick up some plain popcorn in a jar, some oil and salt to ease my fix.?
What’s scarier still, does that same chemical called diacetyl, live on my shelves in other butter flavored products? Here’s what the Baltimore Sun reports
…no other government agency has calculated the hazard, if any, to consumers who use microwave popcorn or cook with other products containing diacetyl. The butter-flavoring agent is used in margarine, faux butters, cooking oil, lard and, according to food scientists, in thousands of frozen products.
THOUSANDS OF FROZEN PRODUCTS!
So until the jury verdict is in, no butter-flavored products for us.
1 response so far ↓
1 Kurt Feller // Apr 20, 2008 at 2:35 am
This IS an alarmist artical. Consumer danger has only linked to “heavy daily use” of microwaved popcorn, and then by someone with the habit of “standing next to” the microwave. I would be much more concerned about microwave radiation exposure than some chemical componant of the smell! The chemical suspected of causing Popcorn Workers Lung is a natural occuring componant in real butter and is a primary reason for butter tasting like butter.
Leave a Comment