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'Popcorn Lung' Threatens Lives in California

Posted by Ed Levine, May 7, 2007 at 7:50 AM

According to yesterday's New York Times, workers in California have been stricken by a horrible lung disease, bronchiolitis obliteran, after being exposed to a yellow-colored flavoring called diacetyl, best known for giving microwave popcorn its buttery taste. The effects of the disease are not pretty: "The airways to the lung have been eaten up," said Barbera Materna, the chief of the occupational health branch in the California Department of Health Services. "They can't work anymore, and they can't walk a short distance without severe shortness of breath." In a typical state regulatory agency-industry trade group pissing match that has ensued since this controversy began, the industry is talking about better ventilation, employee health testing, and new safety and educational programs." One California legislator, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, has a better idea: "It's not like we're talking about a potential flaw in the polio vaccine. We are talking about a potentially devastating disease caused by buttering flavor. And there are other alternatives out there. Including butter." Now there's a radical concept, using butter to flavor butter-flavored microwave popcorn.

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Tags: disease, flavor additives, popcorn

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