Microwave Popcorn Linked to Disease
By MARCUS KABEL,
AP
Posted: 2007-09-05 11:34:33
Filed Under: Health News
(Sept. 4) - Consumers, not just factory workers, may be in danger from
fumes from buttery flavoring in microwave popcorn, according to a
warning letter to federal regulators from a doctor at a leading lung
research hospital.
A pulmonary specialist at Denver's National Jewish Medical and
Research Center has written to federal agencies to say doctors there
believe they have the first case of a consumer who developed lung
disease from the fumes of microwaving popcorn several times a day for
years.

"We cannot be sure that this patient's exposure to butter flavored
microwave popcorn from daily heavy preparation has caused his lung
disease," cautioned Dr. Cecile Rose. "However, we have no other
plausible explanation."

The July letter, made public Tuesday by a public health policy blog,
refers to a potentially fatal disease commonly called popcorn lung
that has been the subject of lawsuits by hundreds of workers at food
factories exposed to chemicals used for flavoring.

In response to Rose's finding, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers
Association issued a statement Tuesday recommending that its members
reduce "to the extent possible" the amount of diacetyl in butter
flavorings they make. It noted that diacetyl is approved for use in
flavors by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

One national popcorn manufacturer, Weaver Popcorn Co. of Indianapolis,
said last week it would replace the butter flavoring ingredient
because of consumer concern. Congress has also been debating new
safety measures for workers in food processing plants exposed to
diacetyl.

The FDA said in an e-mail it is evaluating Rose's letter and
"carefully considering the safety and regulatory issues it raises."

Fred Blosser, spokesman for the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, said it is the first case the institute has seen of
lung disease apparently linked to popcorn fumes outside the workplace.

The occupational safety arm of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said it is working on a response to the letter.

William Allstetter, spokesman for National Jewish Medical, confirmed
the letter was sent by Rose, a specialist in occupational and
environmental lung diseases and director of the hospital's
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic.

"There have been no other cases that we know of other than the
industrial occupational ones," Allstetter said.

Rose acknowledged in the letter that it is difficult to confirm
through one case that popping buttered microwave popcorn at home can
cause lung disease.

However, she said she wanted to alert regulators of the potential
public health implications.

Rose said the ailing patient, a man whom she wouldn't identify,
consumed "several bags of extra butter flavored microwave popcorn"
every day for several years.

He described progressively worsening respiratory symptoms of coughing
and shortness of breath. Tests found his ability to exhale was
deteriorating, Rose said, although his condition seemed to stabilize
after he quit using microwave popcorn.

She said her staff measured airborne levels of diacetyl in the
patient's home when he cooked the popcorn. The levels were "similar to
those reported in the microwave oven exhaust area" at the quality
assurance unit of the popcorn plant where the affected employees
worked, she said.

David Michaels, of the George Washington University School of Public
Health, who first published Rose's letter on his blog, The Pump
Handle, said the finding is another reason for federal regulators to
crack down on diacetyl exposure by workers and consumers.

"This letter is a red flag, suggesting that exposure to food flavor
chemicals is not just killing workers, but may also be causing disease
in people exposed to food flavor chemicals in their kitchens,"
Michaels wrote on his public health policy blog.