Diacetyl linked to popcorn workers lung

by Joe DiStefano (Subscribe to Joe DiStefano's posts)
Posted Aug 6th 2006 2:16PM
Filed under: Snacks, Grains, Health & Medical

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Last week the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers called for the U.S. government to act to protect workers from exposure to a flavoring agent that has been linked to lung disease. Diacetyl is used as a flavoring in microwave popcorn. Hence the name of the debilitating disease that has left some former food factory workers seeking lung transplants.

A group of doctors joined the two unions in their petition to the U.S. Department of Labor to issue an emergency order to reduce factory exposure to diacetyl. The groups are calling for an emergency order from OSHA since it could take years to develop a standard for exposure.

Later this year the EPA plans to publish a study on whether microwaving popcorn at home releases the chemical. The agency says the study is not designed to measure health risks, but rather whether diacetyl and other chemicals are released.

Tags: diacetyl, EPA, microwave popcorn, MicrowavePopcorn, OSHA, popcorn, Teamsters, UFCW, United Food and Commercial Workers, UnitedFoodAndCommercialWorkers

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8-06-2006 @ 4:16PM

Mike Dunham said...

Unless you prepare and eat an ungodly amount of microwave popcorn, I can't imagine enough exposure to cause harm to people at home. That doesn't excuse the use of a dangerous chemical in the workplace or in food however. In fact, if you have ever looked at the wax-like blob of material the popcorn is in, you might want to worry more about transfat and other unsavory things in your popcorn. Nope, I think I will stick to a pan or an airpopper.

8-06-2006 @ 10:09PM

Sera said...

Hmm, is this chemical listed in the popcorn's ingredients on the package?

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