Posted on 05/14/2010 10:19:31 AM PDT by mlocher
Stung by lawsuits, consumer complaints and politicians' calls for action, many food producers have stopped using a flavoring additive that's been linked to a debilitating, irreversible lung condition found in workers at popcorn factories.
It turns out, though, that some of the chemicals used in place of the additive, diacetyl, might be just as dangerous - if not more so.
Diacetyl has long been used to give microwave popcorn and other foods a buttery flavor.
Preliminary studies suggest that one popular substitute, 2,3-pentanedione, causes the same tissue damage, say researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH. The institute is a branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Pentanedione is a little less water-soluble, so it might be better able to reach the deep lung," said Dr. Ann Hubbs, a toxicologist at the institute's Health Effects Laboratory Division in Morgantown, W.Va.
"It might actually be more dangerous than diacetyl itself."
Hubbs said that although more research needs to be done, the preliminary findings are troubling.
"No one wants what happened to the diacetyl workers to happen again," she said.
Hundreds of popcorn workers have sued their employers and flavor manufacturers after developing bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as "popcorn lung." The litigation has resulted in numerous settlements and judgments totaling more than $100 million.
Some medical researchers and product-liability lawyers have warned that consumers can develop bronchiolitis obliterans by inhaling diacetyl, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers the chemical safe for consumers.
Diacetyl's critics agree that the chemical poses no health threat when used as a flavoring agent, even in concentrations found at popcorn manufacturing plants. The danger, they say, lies in the vapors the chemical produces when it's heated - a common occurrence during production.
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatch.com ...
Ah, the movies....
No more “Butter-Buds”?
Butter flavored?
Does Michelle know about this???
Just give me real butter.
I don’t know why anybody uses microwave popcorn..except in a motel. It is so easy and cheap to pop your own..plus you know what went in it.
We eat a lot..especially when we read the news..
...then you haven't had real butter in waaaay too long. Somehow, my refrigerator was devoid of this precious substance last weekend, and I had to fry eggs in <*gasp*> margarine! bleah! Yuck! The way it smell and tastes, even the way it looks in the pan - just disgusting.
Mmmm, I like butter.
Thanks a lot, freakin’ Molly McButter! I knew you were too good to be true.
ick
That is why I always keep butter on hand.
LOL -- I will poach an egg before frying it in margarine.
They will take my popcorn when they pry it from my cold, buttery fingers.
Me too and lots of it please.
Every time my cholesterol levels are checked my doc says they are perfect, not "good" mind you but perfect. She tells me to keep doing whatever it is that I'm doing.
I rarely drink milk any more though, since I found out how delicious Half & Half is! Yummy, butter fat.
I won’t say on here what my cholesterol was last time, but I don’t do fake-anything. It’s real or nothing for me.
You should try heavy cream on cereal. Quite good.
Me too!!
ping
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