Microwave Popcorn Vapors Linked to Lung Ailment

[Amused]

Can I sue for second-hand popcorn exposure?

Microwave Popcorn Vapors Linked to Lung Ailment
By CONNIE FARROW, AP

(March 11) - The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the chemicals released into the air when a bag of microwave popcorn is popped or opened.

Diacetyl, a chemical produced by flavored microwave popcorn, has been tied to lung problems.

Exposure to vapors from butter flavoring in microwave popcorn has been linked to a rare lung disease contracted by factory workers in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has said it suspects the chemical diacetyl caused the illnesses.

However, health officials insist people who microwave popcorn and eat it at home are not in danger.

In the first direct study of chemicals contained in one of the nation's most popular snack foods, the EPA's Indoor Environment Management Branch at Research Triangle Park, N.C., is examining the type and amount of chemicals emitted from microwave popcorn bags.

Further research would be needed to determine any health effects of those chemicals and whether consumers are at risk, said Jacky Rosati, an EPA scientist involved in the study.

"Once we know what chemicals are and the amounts, somebody else can look at the health effects," Rosati said Wednesday.

About 50 brands, batches and flavors of microwave popcorn - from super-buttery to sugary sweet "kettle corn" - are being tested, she said.

"Obviously, we are looking at diacetyl because it is a known compound that will come off this popcorn. But we're not looking at that alone," Rosati said.

The EPA study began last fall and is expected to be completed this year. It likely will be submitted for peer review before being made public, Thompson said.

Rosati started the study after hearing a presentation on popcorn workers who became sick at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. plant in Jasper, Mo.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has linked diacetyl to the respiratory illnesses found in workers who mix the microwave popcorn flavorings. Investigators believe the chemical becomes hazardous when it is heated and there is repeated exposure to large quantities over a long time.

Thirty former workers at the Jasper plant have sued two butter flavoring manufacturers.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association based in Washington, D.C., said the flavor ingredients in microwave popcorn pose no threat to consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food additives, also considers butter flavoring to be safe for consumer use.

"I haven't seen anything that would give us any reason to suspect this is something we should make a high priority," said George Pauli, acting director of the FDA's office of food additive safety.

United States consumers bought $1.33 billion worth of microwave popcorn in 2000, said Ann Wilkes, spokeswoman for the Snack Food Association.

 

[loup garou]

They'd better force business owners to ban microwaveable popcorn in all places of business!

 

[Amused]

...and take away the children of all those parents who dare pop corn in their homes.

 

[loup garou]

Oh man this is great. I can't wait for somebody I know to microwave some popcorn so that I can be a health nazi and tell them, "You do know that stuff will kill you, right?"

 

[Amused]

More info, the original post story was woefully lacking in details:

EPA studies microwave popcorn chemicals

03/07/2004


Researchers focus
on what is released
when bag is opened


By Sara Shipley
Of the Post-Dispatch
[copyright]2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Environmental Protection Agency is testing microwave popcorn to find out what chemicals are released when a bag of popcorn is popped or opened.

Vapors from a butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn have been linked to severe lung damage in dozens of people who work in microwave popcorn plants around the country, including in Missouri and Illinois.
Federal officials have said there is no evidence that consumers face a health risk from microwave popcorn. Until now, no one has directly studied the issue.

Environmental scientist Jacky Rosati, one of the EPA's principal investigators, said she decided to pursue the study after hearing a presentation on the sick popcorn workers at a medical conference in 2002.

"I thought this could fit in very well with what our lab does, which is indoor air," said Rosati, who works in the EPA's Indoor Environment Management Branch at Research Triangle Park, N.C. "We were very interested in the aspect of what is coming off of the microwave popcorn when you pop it."

The EPA study, which is expected to be finished this fall, focuses on the type and amount of chemicals emitted from popping microwave popcorn and opening the bag. Other studies would be needed to determine any health effects of those chemicals and whether consumers are at risk.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association, a trade group based in Washington, said that flavors do not pose a risk to consumers.

"We are confident that flavored microwave popcorn is safe for all of us to enjoy, and FEMA looks forward to working cooperatively with the EPA," Glenn Roberts, executive director of the flavor association, said in a statement.

The EPA study comes as 30 former workers at a microwave popcorn plant in Jasper, Mo., took their claims to court in a lawsuit that began last week.

The study involves only microwave popcorn, one of the nation's most popular snack foods. It does not include other types of popcorn, such as that sold in movie theaters and sporting events, or popped at home on top of the stove.

Rosati and her co-investigator, Ken Krebs, have bought about 50 types of microwave popcorn of different brands, batches and flavors for the study. They declined to reveal the brands used.

In a later phase of the study, researchers will pop the popcorn in a microwave oven placed inside a sealed box built specially for the experiment. Gloves stick through the front wall for access to the oven.

Air will be tested for volatile organic compounds and particles, the researchers said. The study will look at chemicals emitted from the contents of the bag and from the microwaveable bag itself.

Chemicals of interest include diacetyl, the compound that gives butter its flavor. Diacetyl occurs naturally in milk, cheese, vegetables and beer. It also can be manufactured from a solvent and used to make artificial butter flavor.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a federal workplace safety agency, believes that diacetyl may be the component of butter flavoring responsible for more than a dozen cases of "popcorn workers' lung" it has discovered in the past four years.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food additives, considers butter flavoring and diacetyl to be safe for consumer use.

George Pauli, acting director of the FDA's office of food additive safety, said he is interested in EPA's results.

"On its face, it doesn't appear to be an issue, but you never close your eyes and ears to an issue like this," Pauli said. "If it really was (an issue), we'd definitely look into it."

The industry-funded Popcorn Board promotes the snack as "one of the most wholesome and economical foods available."

"Popcorn is the type of thing that always evokes smiles," Popcorn Board executive director Deirdre Flynn said. "That's why you've seen the industry rally as much as it has."

The average American eats 59 quarts of popcorn a year, according to the Chicago-based board. Consumers bought $1.33 billion worth of microwave popcorn in the United States in 2002, according to the Virginia-based Snack Food Association.

Microwave popcorn ranks fifth in retail sales among salty snacks, after potato chips, tortilla chips, meat snacks such as beef jerky, and snack nuts, the association said.

The snack appears in groceries in a wide variety of flavors, including "movie theater butter," "blast-o-butter," and the slightly sweet "kettle corn."

Popcorn fanatic Ruben Micich of St. Louis said he eats three large bowls of popcorn a week. He makes popcorn at work in a movie-theater style popper for his fellow firefighters. He also eats microwave popcorn at home.

Micich, 45, said he didn't worry about his own safety when he heard about the workers' illnesses. "I can only assume because of the large quantities they're dealing with at the factory that it must be in the atmosphere at a pretty high level," he said. "I don't think it would be that way at home, at least hopefully."

But Micich said he'd quit eating microwave popcorn if the EPA's study finds a problem. "It's got to be one of the worst feelings, not being able to breathe," he said.

The workers in the Missouri lawsuit say they suffered various respiratory illnesses from breathing butter flavor vapors. At least eight have been diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and incurable lung disease. Several are on waiting lists for lung transplants.

Their lawsuit claims that butter flavoring manufacturer International Flavors & Fragrances, and its subsidiary, Bush Boake Allen, knew or should have known that the flavoring was hazardous, and that the manufacturers failed to adequately warn the workers.

The manufacturers have denied liability in the case. International Flavors & Fragrances has blamed any health problems on "inadequate workplace conditions."

The plant's owner since 1999, Gilster-Mary Lee of Chester, Ill., is not a defendant in the lawsuit.

Most of the attention in the butter flavor controversy has focused on workplace safety. Officials with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say that the respiratory problems the agency has observed so far appear to relate to workers breathing high levels of butter flavor vapors for extended periods.

But there is no known "safe" level of butter flavor vapors. In a NIOSH study, rats developed severe airway damage after being exposed to butter flavor vapors for six hours. The vapors contained levels of diacetyl two to four times higher than the highest average level measured during a workday.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

interesting.

Diacytel is sometimes produced by fermenting beer. Its not generally desired, and is a sign that fermentation temperatures were too high.

 

[Amused]

:music: Jimmy pop corn, and ruined my air...:music:

 

[Anubis]

abut that law suit, its true it fusks peopel up my sisters law firm is representing one of the siede in that one, i cant remember which, but she basically told me that teh stuff is like abspectos

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Anubis
abut that law suit, its true it fusks peopel up my sisters law firm is representing one of the siede in that one, i cant remember which, but she basically told me that teh stuff is like abspectos

Aspectos?

Do you get that from bench pressing?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Anubis
abut that law suit, its true it fusks peopel up my sisters law firm is representing one of the siede in that one, i cant remember which, but she basically told me that teh stuff is like abspectos

Aspectos?

Do you get that from bench pressing?

no i cant spell you all know that,

that bad stuff that is used for insulation or was used for it,

 

[Mookow]

Time to levy a "sin tax" on microwaved popcorn.

 

[TekChik]

i have a solution.

DON'T OPEN THE BAG.

the article clearly states that the chemical is released by opening the bag. either that, or open the bag outside, let all the chemicals out and then eat the popcorn.

 

[IGBT]

..the stuff does smell bad..like the kat pissed somewhere..but where?? the stinch is all through the building..

 

[StageLeft]

That's why all I drink is water, which I take from a mountaintop, and wheat, which I grow myself in a secluded field, using no fertilizer. I only garden in the dark so that I am not expoused to sun. Otherwise I stay in a cave, except for 5 min a day when I go out to get my Vitamin D.

 

[0roo0roo]

just buy a popper,no biggie popping corn aint hard.

 

[Amused]

Folks,

If you read both articles, you will note that only FACTORY WORKERS have been getting sick. Not consumers.

I find it funny that people have assumed that it is bad to use microwave popcorn now.

 

[Ime]

We all eat microwave popcorn at work. I need to send this story around to get a few laughs!

"Put the popcorn down and step away from the microwave!"

LOL!

 

[SagaLore]

Are these chemicals naturally produced by the popcorn, or chemicals that are added to it for some reason?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Are these chemicals naturally produced by the popcorn, or chemicals that are added to it for some reason?

Added to it for butter flavor:

Exposure to vapors from butter flavoring in microwave popcorn has been linked to a rare lung disease contracted by factory workers in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has said it suspects the chemical diacetyl caused the illnesses.

You failed reading comprehension, huh?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

"Popcorn is the type of thing that always evokes smiles," Popcorn Board executive director Deirdre Flynn said. "That's why you've seen the industry rally as much as it has."