Diacetyl chemical in artificial butter popcorn linked to Alzheimer's plaque build-up (microwave)

CBS news ^ | 8/9/12

[UnwashedPeasant]

(CBS News) An ingredient used in artificial butter flavoring for popcorn may worsen the effects of an abnormal brain protein that's been linked to Alzheimer's disease.

A new study in Chemical Research in Toxicology examined diacetyl (DA), an ingredient used to produce the buttery flavor and smell in microwave popcorn, margarine, candy, baked goods, and even pet food. It is also created naturally in fermented drinks like beer, and gives some chardonnay wines its buttery taste, according to the study.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis conducted an analysis of DA, a chemical which previously has been linked to respiratory problems in employees at microwave popcorn and food-flavoring factories.

They found that DA has a structure that's similar to a substance that makes beta-amyloid proteins. Too much amyloid that clumps together to form plaques are a tell-tale marker of Alzheimer's disease in the brain. The researchers wanted to see whether DA would clump those proteins in a similar fashion to form plaques.

They found DA did lead to an increase in levels of beta-amyloid clumping, leading to toxic effects on nerve cells the scientists grew in a laboratory. The experiments also showed that DA easily penetrated the blood-brain barrier, a layer of cells that is supposed to keep harmful substances from entering the brain but allows other helpful materials to cross. The chemical was also found to mitigate the effects of glyoxalase I, a protein that protects nerve cells.

The study however did not show a cause and effect relationship between the chemical and Alzheimer's, and the results haven't been replicated in people, only in test tubes.

"In light of the chronic exposure of industry workers to DA, this study raises the troubling possibility of long-term neurological toxicity mediated by DA," the researchers, led by Dr. Robert Vince, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Drug Design, said in a written statement.

[UnwashedPeasant]

Don't eat microwave popcorn. If you like popcorn that much, get a popper and use real butter.

Also, if the DA chemical is in margarine, it seems like that would be a much more consumed source than microwave popcorn.

[Yardstick]

What is it that gives butter its buttery flavor? Is it naturally occurring diacetyl?

[Cyman]

I wonder if the theater chains have their insurance policies up to snuff?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Theater popcorn used to be made with real butter and popped in cocoanut oil.

Thank God the Food Nazis put an end to that.

[cripplecreek]

What is it that gives butter its buttery flavor? Is it naturally occurring diacetyl?

I don't know but its a good rational question to ask.

The predominant phenolic phytochemicals in apples are quercetin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2. Carbohydrates 13.81 g - Sugars 10.39 g - Dietary fiber 2.4 g Fat 0.17 g Protein 0.26 g Vitamin A equiv. 3 μg 0% Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.017 mg 1% Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.026 mg 2% Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.091 mg 1% Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.061 mg 1% Vitamin B6 0.041 mg 3% Folate (Vit. B9) 3 μg 1% Vitamin C 4.6 mg 8% Calcium 6 mg 1% Iron 0.12 mg 1% Magnesium 5 mg 1% Phosphorus 11 mg 2% Potassium 107 mg 2% Zinc 0.04 mg 0%

[bmwcyle]

ping

[GreyFriar]

My question is: How much Diacetyl does one have to consume to get enough to cause/enhance risk of Alzheimer’s?

I refer you to the Alar on apples will give you cancer environmentalist/natural foods folks created scare of 15 years ago. It turned out that a person had to drink 2 or 3 gallons of Alar a day for several hundred years to get enough exposure to cause cancer. Thus the apple growers lost money and some their lively hoods over a false scare made by ‘nannys who know best for us.”

[upchuck]

I’m not concerned about this one little bit.

Why? Because the nobama-led FDA would never, ever allow bad chemicals to get near us or in us.

[Orange1998]

A bowl of margarine and butter outdoors. Ants will not touch the margarine.

[1_Of_We]

It is also created naturally in fermented drinks like beer

I just read where beer helps prevent alzheimers?!?

[RedMDer]

What would you do without Free Republic?

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[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. Interesting.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. Interesting.