Did you know? Diacetyl will no longer be used to enhance the flavor of microwave popcorn? « Did you know? Random facts to ponder

Did you know? Diacetyl will no longer be used to enhance the flavor of microwave popcorn?

Well, finally. The Weaver Popcorn Co. has removed the butter flavoring ingredient….good news since they supply Pop Weaver as well as Trail’s End, sold through Boy Scout councils. The manufacturer of Orville Redenbacher and Act II microwave popcorn likewise plans to remove the ingredient “sometime in the near future.” This action was announced on September 5th, the same day that the media picked up on the story of the first confirmed case of a Bronchiolitis Obliterans in a consumer—previous cases were limited to microwave popcorn factory workers.

People are rightfully concerned about the effects of diacetyl and its link to a rare and incurable lung disease called Bronchiolitis Obliterans. Bronchiolitis means that the bronchioles (very tiny airways in the lung, less that one millimeter in diameter) become inflamed. Obliterans refers to the fact that the inflammation of the bronchioles significantly obliterates the airways. Since 2001 academic studies have shown links between the disease and diacetyl. Flavoring manufacturers have paid out more that $100 million as a result of lawsuits brought by people working in microwave popcorn manufacturing plants using diacetyl. The general public was not aware of this fact. The FDA has not studied the possible effect of diacetyl on the consumer. The EPA has studied it but has not released its findings. They are waiting for “the industry to review the study before releasing it.” Interesting. Apparently, all it took was one confirmed case of Bronchiolitis Obliterans in a consumer—-a Colorado man who claims to have eaten 2-3 bags of microwave popcorn over the span of ten years—-to get the media’s attention and force the manufacturers to make the changes they should have made six years ago. Let’s hope that whatever they come up with to replace dicetyl as a flavor enhancer is a safe alternative.

And even if diacetyl is no longer an issue in microwave popcorn, let’s not forget about the PFOA(Perfluoro-octanic acid) used in its packaging. See my blog of May 25th for more info about that chemical. Of course PFOA is found also in Teflon and other nonstick coatings. We’re talking about fighting big corporations here. So, even though health conscious people have been aware of the dangers of PFOAs on nonstick cookware and in microwave packaging—-don’t look to any media reports to make that knowledge known to the general public in the near future. For information on a class action suit against DuPont concerning PFOAs in teflon view the following link: http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-stores/4212387-1.html