Free Republic

There’s nothing like freshly popped popcorn, especially when popped in one of those hand-cracked poppers with coconut oil. A lot of folks like to nuke their popcorn, and that’s where they could be running into some real trouble. Here’s the deal. Some researchers at the University of Minnesota discovered that the stuff that gives buttery flavor to microwave popcorn could trigger Alzheimer’s disease. They say the chemical diacetyl causes certain proteins to clump together in the brain, which, they say is a sure sign of Alzheimer’s. But wait, there’s more. Diacetyl also contributes to popcorn lung. Diacetyl is the stuff...

A Missouri couple has filed for bankruptcy just eight years after winning a $20 million lawsuit against the makers of a butter popcorn flavoring that gave one of them lung disease. Eric Peoples of Carthage and his wife, Cassandra, sued International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and Bush Boake Allen Inc. in 2004 after Mr Peoples developed bronchiolitis obliterans while working at a popcorn plant in Jasper. But just eight years later, the two are being forced to sell the home they built for $3.9 million to pay off creditors, after their financial situation went spectacularly downhill. According to the Joplin...

Stung by lawsuits, consumer complaints and politicians' calls for action, many food producers have stopped using a flavoring additive that's been linked to a debilitating, irreversible lung condition found in workers at popcorn factories. It turns out, though, that some of the chemicals used in place of the additive, diacetyl, might be just as dangerous - if not more so. Diacetyl has long been used to give microwave popcorn and other foods a buttery flavor. Preliminary studies suggest that one popular substitute, 2,3-pentanedione, causes the same tissue damage, say researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or...