microwave popcorn butter chemical cause lung illness !

Recent medical study raise warning to FDA that the buttery smell of microwave popcorn cause lung illness to users who eat it. The chemical is called diacetyl.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070904/health/health_popcorn_lung_consumer

It came out several years ago that the workers in microwave popcorn factories were getting ill. Once that came out, I stopped eating microwave popcorn. Looks like I made a good call.

Holy cow, I eat microwave popcorn four or five times a week but it's the 94% fat free version. I wonder if that is better or if it doesn't make any difference.

My first reaction is skeptical... several bags a day for several years they say, which is not very specific. But they did then go and measure the amount of the stuff in the air in his home so thats better science. Still I dont think there is enough information there to decide if this was the cause, further testing will be necessary.

I'm not defending the flavoring you understand. I like popcorn! Not too fond of the extra strong smell they add to the microwave variety though. Seems you could have unscented that would then smell like what it is, popcorn and oil and salt which should be good enough just by itself!

The part that bothers me is that we're taking a chemical that we know causes problems when inhaled in large quantities and we're not talking about just removing it, but about reformulating. So we'll be replacing a danger that we know and that can be mitigated by not working in the plant or eating the stuff for breakfast lunch and dinner every day for years, and instead using something new for which there isn't any data but that might turn out to be just as dangerous if not worse. I'd rather the poison where I know I'm below the dangerous dose, than the new stuff that I have no idea about. But then I have the same problem with that new copper treated lumber I've been using on the deck. I knew how to be safe with the old stuff, no idea how the new stuff will affect things...

Perhaps we could let Orville and the gang know that we like popcorn that is popcorn flavored and perhaps so many non-food smells aren't actually necessary to get us to like their product.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hg2_RfPPdec6l9xS67hL8JkX9UKQ (Associated Press) said:

"He really liked microwave popcorn. He made two or three bags every day for 10 years," said William Allstetter, a spokesman for National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver where the man's respiratory illness was diagnosed.
"He told us he liked the smell of popcorn, so he would open and inhale from freshly popped bags," Allstetter said. And the patient said he did this for a decade.

Click to expand...

2-3 bags a day, 10 years straight. What's that, like 9,000 bags of popcorn-sniffing fun? I'm not sure whether to laugh or feel very sorry for this individual's behavior.