The dark side of popcorn

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Microwave popcorn producer Pop Weaver is removing the controversial chemical flavoring diacteyl, which is used to add buttery taste, reports Andrew Schneider of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Studies have linked "exposure to the synthetic butter to the sometimes fatal destruction of the lungs of hundreds of workers in food production and flavoring factories," Schneider wrote.

In addition to Pop Weaver and six other private brands, the Indiana-based company also sells "Trail's End" popcorn for the Boy Scouts of America. But while Pop Weaver has removed it, it's still in the microwave popcorn brands Orville Redenbacher and Act II.

"Despite the worker safety findings - and despite scores of jury decisions and settlements awarding millions of dollars to workers who sued after having their lungs destroyed by exposure to diacetyl - neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Consumer Product Safety Commission have investigated," wrote Schneider. "The FDA years ago declared the chemical safe for consumption. Labels on almost all products containing it call it a flavoring and only rarely do the labels mention diacetyl.

"The only government investigators to examine whether consumers are at risk - whether diacetyl is released when consumers pop corn in their home microwaves, and if so, how much - is the Environmental Protection Agency," Schneider wrote. "But to the frustration of many public health workers, the findings of the EPA's study - which began in 2003 and was completed last year - have been released only to the popcorn industry."

Some studies have shown that diacetyl is released when freshly popped bags of corn were opened. Diacetyl is also in potato chips, baked goods and candies, frozen food, artificial butter, cooking oils and sprays, beer, dog food and others.