Makers To Alter Popcorn Flavoring

Columbus Dispatch

9/6/07

Years after workers complained that they were sickened by vapors of butter flavoring at microwave-popcorn plants, a customer appears to have suffered as well. On the heels of a revelation that a Denver man developed a lung disease from popcorn exposure, ConAgra, the nation's largest maker of microwave popcorn, announced it will change the chemical that adds the buttery flavor. Denver lung specialist Dr. Cecile Rose wrote the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in July, advising them that a Denver patient appeared to have developed bronchiolitis obliterans, a sometimes-fatal lung disease, due to popping corn twice per day for the past 10 years. Rose's letter, recently made public, says tests she conducted showed the diacetyl levels in the patient's home were similar to levels found in popcorn-making plants. She said the patient would open the bag when the popcorn was done and inhale the vapors because he enjoyed the smell. "Eating doesn't appear to pose any problems," said Clay Marsh, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Marsh said that bronchiolitis obliterans can be caused by popcorn vapors that damage the smallest airways in the lungs, which then scar and reduce the ability of the lungs to move oxygen in and out.

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