An intriguing news story popped up this past week involving that popular snack—and staple of movie- going audiences the world over: popcorn. It is a curious tale involving a man, a blog, and years of popcorn abuse.
In July, a pulmonary specialist at the National Jewish Medical and Research Centre in Denver, Colorado, sent a letter to federal agencies warning of the potential for microwave popcorn to cause lung disease in consumers. Dr. Cecile Rose described the case of a man who developed a potentially fatal disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans (informally called “popcorn lung”) after years of eating microwave popcorn several times a day. The disease is known to occur among popcorn factory workers who are exposed to extremely high doses of the causative agent diacetyl on a regular basis. This documented case of a consumer suffering from the same affliction set off a cascade of concern and immediate action by the companies involved.
The letter was made known to the public via an Internet blog called The Pump Handle. Administered by David Michaels of the George Washington School of Public Health, the story appeared this past Tuesday and made waves right away. The next day, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) issued a statement recommending that “its members who manufacture butter flavors containing diacetyl for use in microwave popcorn consider reducing the diacetyl content of these flavors to the extent possible.” Soon after, ConAgra, makers of the well-known Orville Redenbacher brand of popcorn announced they were going to replace diacetyl with another flavouring agent within a year. Other companies, such as the Weaver Popcorn Company, promised to stop using diacetyl and replace it with other compounds. With all this noise over diacetyl, one might be asking: what exactly is it and where is it found?
As described in FEMA’s statement, “Diacetyl is naturally occurring in a wide variety of foods including butter, milk, cheese, fruits, wine and beer and provides a ‘buttery’ flavor to butter itself and other foods.” After cooking flavored microwave popcorn, that powerful buttery odour you smell is airborne diacetyl. Its official chemical name is 2,3-Butanedione and it is even found as a component of cigarette smoke.
It is highly likely that diacetyl actually poses little risk to consumers. The afflicted man in question, Wayne Watson, is definitely an unusual case. Clearly an avid fan of popcorn, he told doctors that he popped two to three bags of popcorn every day for about ten years. On top of this, he would inhale deeply from the freshly popped bag because he enjoyed the smell so much. When the air levels of diacetyl were tested inside the man’s home, the levels were found to be comparable to areas of a popcorn plant where similarly affected employees worked.
Although approved by the FDA as a flavouring agent, diacetyl has been known to cause health problems in people exposed to high doses. In March of 2004, a former popcorn plant employee won a $20 million lawsuit against International Flavors. The man claims he received permanent lung damage— so bad that he is awaiting a double lung transplant—after only a year of working at the Gilster-Mary Lee plant in Jasper, Missouri. An additional 29 former employees are also taking suit against the company.
The name “popcorn lung” is almost too light-hearted a name for such a serious disease. There is no known cure for bronchiolitis obliterans, besides a double lung transplant. Inflammation and scarring of lung tissue occur in affected patients, with lung capacity being reduced to 16 to 21%. Standard capacity for healthy people is around 80%. What is more, the disease is difficult to identify. Its symptoms, such as dry cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath, could be indicative of any number of respiratory illnesses. The fact that Dr. Rose was able to identify Mr. Watson’s affliction was itself a stroke of luck, as she is one of only dozens of physicians in the US who are familiar with the disease.
Mr Watson’s story spread through mainstream media much like an epidemic. After being first reported on a blog, it spread from one point and was soon found on most news websites, even making the front page of Yahoo. Although stories of lawsuits and worker safety have trickled down the newswire over the past several years, Mr. Watson’s tale effectively broke the story in the mainstream media.
The dark side to the story is that it seems as if civilian casualties are the only way to bring a serious health issue front and centre. Had it not been for Mr. Watson and his popcorn sniffing ways, it may have taken many more years of unpublicized litigation and numerous lawsuits before the companies involved began taking steps to stop using the substance and save their workers from a crippling illness. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that a study of the chemicals in popcorn was underway. The results have yet to be released to the public.
