Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Disease

Jennifer Moore

Contributor

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

Microwave popcorn companies, such as Act II and Orville Redenbacher, add the chemical, Diacetyl, to their popcorn for "buttery" flavor. The manufacturer of these popcorns, ConAgra Foods, announced it would remove diacetyl from its popcorn because of the risk to workers being exposed to diacetyl. In addition to workers suffering from lung ailments due to exposure, Denver doctors believe that diacetyl could be the cause of lung problems for a consumer, who ate microwave popcorn regularly.

The Food & Drug Administration is evaluating whether the chemical could affect consumers' health.

Diacetyl has been linked to an ailment called bronchiolitis obliterans, or "popcorn workers lung." It's a life-threatening form of obstructive lung disease whose only cure is a lung transplant. Sufferers can breathe in deeply but have difficulty exhaling.

Numerous studies in recent year have shown links between the disease and diacetyl. One flavouring manufacturer worker has died of the disease. Flavouring manufacturers in the U.S. have paid out more than US$100 million to settle lawsuits by people sick with popcorn workers lung over the past five years.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Defective and Dangerous Products.