Popcorn lung

[snopes]

Comment: This was emailed to me. Is this true? This was sent to me by a
friend.

if you do nothing else today....please read this!

As some of you know, a couple of years ago I took a short term job at the
Conagra popcorn factory in Marion, Ohio. This plant makes all of the
Micro-wave popcorn on the market. Orvill Reddenbacher, Act II, Kettle Korn
and many others.

On saturday evening while I was working my police job in Edison, I ran
into a former co-worker there. He asked if I knew about the lawsuits at
Conagra. I did not. He took me to his computer and pulled up google and
did a search for "Popcorn lung". What I read got my attention. To be
perfectly honest, it scared the heck out of me.

Please read through the links I have attached and please please please
stop buying microwave popcorn!!! Go back to the old hot air poppers or
even the stove top pan where you add your own butter....


http://www.butterflavoringlunginjury.com/faq.htm

http://www.butterflavoringlunginjury.com/disease.htm

http://www.butterflavoringlunginjury...-flavoring.php

http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2004/S...kers3apr04.htm

The main chemical in the "Butter Flavor", is called Diacetyl which is and
will also be released into your own kitchens when you cook the bag to have
your snack.

We did have several bags at home and when I got home from work, I threw
them all away.

Give me a holler if you have any questions.....

[Stan The Man]

Apparently, there is some truth to it.... Link

[Esprise Me]

From the above linked CNN story:

Health officials have said there is no danger to people who microwave the popcorn and eat it at home.

That would have been my guess. My understanding of life, the universe, and everything is that there are billions of substances that are benign in the dosages normal people receive, but potentially harmful or fatal if ingested in enormous quantities, day in, day out, as a person who makes a living handling said substance might have.

Esprise "couldn't live without microwave popcorn" Me

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by Esprise Me

From the above linked CNN story:



Esprise "couldn't live without microwave popcorn" Me

Neither could 99.99% of the office workers in America.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by Esprise Me

My understanding of life, the universe, and everything is that there are billions of substances that are benign in the dosages normal people receive, but potentially harmful or fatal if ingested in enormous quantities, day in, day out, as a person who makes a living handling said substance might have.

As I understand the issue, it isn't ingesting the stuff that's the problem. It's breathing it in day in and day out.

Seaboe

Here's the link to the NIOSH site on it....

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-110/#c

[Jay Tea]

Hah! I always knew popcorn was evil

[Esprise Me]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

As I understand the issue, it isn't ingesting the stuff that's the problem. It's breathing it in day in and day out.

True, but the OP warned that

The main chemical in the "Butter Flavor", is called Diacetyl which is and
will also be released into your own kitchens when you cook the bag to have
your snack.

I took this to mean the chemical would be vaporized when the popcorn was cooked, and popcorn consumers would be inhaling it. The CNN story didn't clarify whether or not that was the case, although now that I think about it, I suspect that it's not. But even if it is, the same could still apply: breathing chemicals all day at the plant could kill you; breathing trace amounts every now and then at home can't.

[snopes]

Comment: The email that follows is from my sister-in-law Ellen who is an
attorney working on cases involving microwave popcorn and lung disease.
This isn't a hoax. Please send it to people who need to know. Here comes
her email.

-------------------------------------

As I may or may not have told you guys, I'm working on a case involving
microwave popcorn manufacturing plant employees who have contracted a
bad lung disease that causes scarring of the lungs, sometimes requiring
transplant. The suspected culprit is a chemical in the fake butter
flavoring (which is also used in other types of flavoring, such as
caramel). The FDA has stated numerous times that there is no evidence
of any danger to consumers from eating products containing the fake
butter flavoring, as the danger appears to be in inhaling the fumes from
the product when it is superheated during the manufacturing process.
Accordingly, such products remain on the shelves.

However, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver just
sent a letter to the FDA detailing what the hospital alleges is a
landmark diagnosis of a consumer who has contracted lung disease as the
result of cooking and consuming large amounts of microwave popcorn that
contains diacetyl.

I haven't touched this stuff since my case began in 2000, as I always
suspected something like this would happen (particularly since microwave
popcorn makes the butter flavoring hot enough to emit fumes). Anyway,
DON'T eat this stuff!!!!!

It seems the problem with the workforce making the popcorn is correct. Here is a link to a site. But can only see speculation on the problems it may cause to the public.
So I say first bit true, second probabally false.

Even if it is true, I'm safe... I don't particularly like popcorn, and when I do eat it it's popped the hard way and then buttered with actual butter lol. Not out of any safety concerns... I just think it tastes better.

One has to wonder as far as the op goes -- if this is a syndrome/disease/issue that seems to be limited to workers in factories using the chemical, just how much popcorn would you have to make at home to start seeing the same issues? I mean, we're talking about people who are being exposed to the fumes for (presumably) 8 hours a day, versus someone who is exposed to the fumes for less than 5 minutes per bag. That would be like... 90 bags of popcorn a day?

Unless an hours exposure per day would be enough... then it's only 12 bags a day, which still seems like an excessive amount of popcorn. But I suppose there are people who can eat that much (I'd be so sick of popcorn after bag 2-3 that the scent would probably make me physically ill LOL... but everyone is different).

[Banrion]

This was on our local news this AM.
http://wbztv.com/national/topstories...247182329.html

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.

I have many many problems with this claim. First, ANYTHING to the degree of excess as is shown here is going to cause problems. If you go eat several bags of carrots (a sterotypical "healthy food" a day, you will have health problems from it. Carrots contain significant amounts of Vitamin A.

An vitamin A overdose can be harmful to bones and skin, causing weakness and brittleness, even leading to fatigue and vomiting. Symptoms of a vitamin A overdose include tiredness, discomfort, lethargy, upset stomach, decreased appetite, vomiting, slow or decreased growth, joint soreness, irritability, headache, drying and cracking of the lips and skin, hair loss, and yellowing of the skin.

Secondly, are we sure that the respiratory problems come from the fumes of popcorn, and not say the patient's own obesity. Now I have not found anything to categorically state that this person is obese, but based on the nutrition facts of microwave popcorn, this person is obviously not maintaining a balanced and reasonable diet. With one serving of microwave popcorn having about 10g of fat, and a single bag can be 3-4 servings. One bag would provide half of the fat you are suppossed to eat in a day, and this person was eating several.

[Keeper of the Mad Bunnies]

Here is the letter referred to in the original post.

Letter

... a patient with significant lung disease whose clinical findings are similar to those described in affected workers, but whose only inhalational exposure is as a heavy, daily consumer of butter flavored microwave popcorn.

The letter does not give the number of bags daily, but does state it was the 'extra butter flavored' version.

So, the information in the post is correct, even if the conclusions may be premature.

James Powell

[amorrison50]

Originally Posted by snopes

Here comes her email.

We can't say we weren't warned.

[Tweetilynn]

This is from an article I read earlier. One "possible" case. Nothing to be forwarding to everyone in your email list. bolding mine.

http://health.yahoo.com/news/179052

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.

I heard on the news here in Minnesota that the guy who supposedly has the lung disease consumed 2 bags of microwave popcorn a day. That seems like a pretty low amount of fumes from the artificial butter getting into the person's lungs to me.

[nonnieyrissa]

There is no way to tell if this man is obese, unhealthy yes, but not obese. When I was in college I went through on average 2 boxes of Red Oval Farms Stoned Wheat Thins Crackers and 2 blocks of Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar a day. Was I healthy? No. Was I obese? No again. I was around 110 at 5"7.

(hyjack) I wanted to gain weight and love Stoned Wheat Crackers microwaved with the cheese on top till they became one (think a cracker with a thin coating of plastic but the cheese is the plastic. Sounds alot worse than it tastes. I am sureYou will all be happy to know that while this unfortunately did not help me to gain weight, having 3 children did. (hyjack)

[annabohly]

Here at work, at least 3 or more people pop a bag of microwave popcorn each day. Are we all at risk?

[Buckle Up]

Personally I think this is just an example of TV news programs glomming onto a panic-inducing non-story to get ratings. The major source of the problems has been for workers in the plants producing the popcorn, who are exposed to the fumes at much, much higher concentrations and frequencies than consumers. While there may be a couple heavy users who experienced problems, like Banrion said, anything used excessively can cause health problems, and those consuming two or more bags of buttered popcorn daily likely have other health issues that predispose them to medical dangers.

[missy_pooh_1997]

I hears about this on a news show like 5-6 months ago. They call it "popcorn lung". It just popped up again on good morning america about 2 days ago.