EPA Studies Vapors From Microwave Popcorn

Associated Press ^ | Mar 11, 8:18 AM EST | CONNIE FARROW

[kahoutek]

Mar 11, 8:18 AM EST

EPA Studies Vapors From Microwave Popcorn

By CONNIE FARROW Associated Press Writer

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

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 are suing 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.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved

[gortklattu]

I can see it now on the doors of businesses:

Microwave in Use

Poisonous Popcorn Gas Possible

[billorites]

Eat safe.

[Licensed-To-Carry]

OH, PUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS

[Ancesthntr]

I suggest the EPA jackasses spend more time and money studying the real threat to our society's health: the fetid fumes emanating from to pieholes of bloviating bureaucrats. They need not go very far to collect numerous samples - they only have to start the study within their own ranks. That ought to keep them busy for a few years, years in which the rest of the country can live free and prosper without the unwarranted interference of this bunch of do-gooder blissninnies.

[Ancesthntr]

"...from to pieholes..." should be "...from the pieholes..."

[Old North State]

I think this story is most instructive for inadvertently highlighting the ridiculous extremes the Nanny State has foisted on us all. Look at the names of the organizations:

Envirinmental Protection Agency
National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety
Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association
Food and Drug Administration
Snack Food Association
What do any of these bodies produce? They exist mainly to protect territory at the Government/Market border at enormous cost.
I think the classic line in the piece is the statement,
"Once we know what chemicals are and the amounts, somebody else can look at the health effects,". Well maybe, maybe not. By that time they may have tired of popcorn and decide to study the far more dangerous gases given off by soft drinks(all that salt in the popcorn can make you thirsty)

[gortklattu]

Anybody who puts themselves between a consumer and a producer is properly termed a "parasite."

[Porterville]

Question: what does the EPA have to do with this?

[kahoutek]

See post #7......

Things are getting slow at the EPA....

Solution: Branch Out

[Tunehead54]

Question: what does the EPA have to do with this?

---

I was tipped off by the first line in the article: "The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the chemicals released into the air when a bag of microwave popcorn is popped or opened." ;-)

[roylene]

Sing it brother!

[Willie Green]

Question: what does the EPA have to do with this?

I dunno.
While I certainly don't agree with this idiocy,
it also sounds like it would more fall under OSHA's jurisdiction.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Does this mean I'll have to file an environmental impact statement the next time I get ready to nuke some Boy Scout popcorn?

[P.O.E.]

I thought we had conquered the vapors, that scourge of the Victorian era.

[NCjim]

Uh oh - I smell a conspiracy here. The EPA will find that only Boy Scout popcorn is dangerous due to lack of diversity in those who sell it.

[Calamari]

Other things to worry about

Adding microwave popcorn for future inclusion.